Good Grief (2023)

These works are a representation of the physical effects of grief and joy. Good Therapy (2018) states, ‘Grief can cause back pain, joint pain, headaches, and stiffness. The pain is caused by the overwhelming amount of stress hormones being released during the grieving process. These effectively stun the muscles they contact. Stress hormones act on the body in a similar way to broken heart syndrome.’ While the American Heart Association (nd) states, ‘“Being happy doesn’t just make us feel better, it improves our health. It helps us eat healthier, be more active and sleep better.” So, I’ve begun creating works that represent the physical sensation of feeling grief and feeling happiness, gratitude, and joy. So far, I have used collages to overlay images that correspond with my own experience of joy and grief, both physical and emotional. I have drawn visual resources from stock images used in marketing and advertising because of their easy relatability and popular familiarity.