Trauma is not an event, story, or memory. Trauma is of the body, and embedded in the body, in knees, hips, bellies, and necks. It can change the very structure of our connective tissues and be passed down as embodied memory through generations. Trauma is the embodied experience of the non-linearity of time. 

This project is both an exploration and documentation of how the artist’s practice developed alongside her trauma, and how it has always served as a way for her to soothe and heal. It is the product of actively asking the question: “By what mechanisms do we remember with our body? How does the body serve as a platform for the transformation of trauma?”

The research weaves together how trauma is experienced and imprinted in the body, the potential of epigenetics to pass down memories, the perception of time and the theory of its non-linear nature, how one can use rhythmic, artistic practices to soothe and heal, and how many intuitively have. 

Finally, the paper documents the author’s material research and production of colossal sheets of bacterial cellulose. The material serves as a basis for her embroidered textile works, while the process of producing it serves as a rhythmic, therapeutic somatic process in its own right.

Request a copy of the paper here.