Through the Wound, There’s Grace

Through the Wound, There’s Grace dissects the arc of healing after trauma. In this work, I propose that radical presence, the willingness to sit with pain and the weight of being alive, is the only path that frees us from the shackles of despair and shame.

This idea comes directly from my own lifelong arc of healing. The once familiar feeling of drowning has begun to lift for me through the realization that healing requires allowing myself to feel the full messiness of life. This piece became the vessel through which I explored that process and made it visible.

I used a variety of mixed media in this work, collaging and layering paper, and incorporating pop-up elements to create feeling through movement and structure. Personal journal entries and handwritten notes were included to honor the sacredness of the pain that shaped this piece. Every material carries meaning; each layer acts like an emotional fiber, woven into the book. Through building these layers, I mirrored the act of healing itself, allowing each emotion and lesson to settle until a new form of being could emerge.

This piece guides the viewer through the complex stages and emotions of trauma. It includes an emotional Turkish map fold that charts the inner landscape of the journey, allowing the viewer to move through the layers of feeling as they unfold. Throughout the book, questions are offered as anchors to presence, inviting the viewer to pause and feel into their own emotions. Prompts such as “What are you carrying that no one sees?” and gentle reminders like “You are not alone in your weight,” create space for reflection, empathy, and connection.

The work is rooted in the belief that navigating our trauma and resurfacing into a healed version of ourselves is not only personal, but a social responsibility. Change begins at the individual level, and every person who becomes more present, less reactive, and more integrated contributes to the collective repair of our communities. This is where The Art of Repair becomes essential. When individuals learn to depolarize internally — to move through their own fractures with patience and presence — they create the conditions for the depolarization of society as a whole. Healing ourselves becomes an act of repairing the world we share.