When the aftermath of pain is art
I’ve been volunteering as a medic during the protests. What led me to go was accumulating pain. Unprocessed, accumulating, pent-up pain. I had watched what happened to George Floyd over and over again on the news, and as an empath, I couldn’t just sit around any longer.
At the protest, I was sitting at the medic station watching street performers, drummers, and peaceful protestors going back and forth with their cardboard signs speaking out about the injustice against black lives. That’s when this thought occured to me, “The aftermath of pain is expression.” I watched people painting murals, sketching, performing, dancing, singing, and doing what they could to express the pain they’ve been feeling.
Lately I, too, have been feeling like I have so much pent-up pain and I’ve wanted to express it. Seeing people express their pain through art is very inspiring and beautiful. Pent-up pain needs to be expressed in some way, and the decision on how to express your pain is up to you.
I believe something beautiful, like healing ourselves and our community can come out when you use art to express your pain. As a nurse who also photographs and takes both roles seriously, I’ve been using my photography to process some of my own pain. I’m not claiming to be an artist that has figured it out, but this season is teaching me to use my camera to create beauty and healing from pain. And it has given me a reason to wake up each morning.
Here are some of the moments I’ve captured while going through my season of pain. Titled….
“The aftermath of pain is expression.”
BLM Banner in front of the White House
Commissioned wall art in DC
Wall art infant of Starbucks in DC
A painter painting in front of the White house
Wall art recognizing Medics during the protest in DC in the process of getting painted.
Wall art in DC painted on boarded windows. Commissioned by The National Museum of Women in the Arts.
Graffiti art in front of the white house.
Wall art in DC painted after stores boarded windows in downtown.
“An artist’s duty, as far as I’m concerned, is to reflect the times. I think that is true of painters, sculptors, poets, musicians. As far as I’m concerned, it’s their choice, but I CHOOSE to reflect the times and situations in which I find myself. That, to me, is my duty. And at this crucial time in our lives, when everything is so desperate, when everyday is a matter of survival, I don’t think you can help but be involved. Young people, black and white, know this. That’s why they’re so involved in politics. We will shape and mold this country or it will not be molded and shaped at all anymore. So I don’t think you have a choice. How can you be an artist and NOT reflect the times? That to me is the definition of an artist.”
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