"Trauma and Repair" is influenced by kintsugi, the Japanese craft of repairing broken ceramics with gold lacquer. At the heart of kintsugi is a recognition that damage and repair are a part of an object’s history – they are aspects of its life that are to be highlighted and appreciated, rather than hidden. Using the dyadic couplet of trauma and repair, I have been exploring what it means for people to be broken and thus repaired, and how I can practice a form of kintsugi for the soul. When people are physically hurt, there exist tangible manifestations of the subsequent healing: scars. But what about emotional healing? How can I recognize and appreciate emotional healing if there is no physical manifestation of that repair? How can I paint emotional scars in gold?
2015.