trauma center was a gallery show in collaboration with dani dinstman centered around processing trauma through confrontation and black comedy. our show was covered in the online art magazine squinch.

so the artful parody of a pediatrician's office is nothing new, obv. but here's our Super Fresh take on it. the through line of our waiting room is the pseudo-aid often offered to emotionally abused or sexually people. anything from 'you should try meditation' to 'you're making a big deal out of nothing'. this took form in motivation-style posters and serene nature videos projected over white vinyl type echoing similar unhelpful truisms.

dani contributed a number of large paintings, including one of a fairytale castle. her work is generally abstract with amorphous shapes that imply figure and intimacy.

we also needed to have a toy area. one very productive thrift store haul later we had a blanket and some sweet toys, but we knew we still needed something. specifically those wooden bead and wire sculptures/toys that are in every kid's doctor's office. but holy cow were they out of our budget, so we raided the sculpture majour's scrap heaps and made one ourselves.

in the center of the installation, behind a bed sheet is the proverbial 'trauma center.' on one wall, there is a painting representing the internal expression of traumatic emotion and on the other a transcript of a letter from a university rejecting a sexual assault appeal with names and dates blacked out to represent not only the commonality of this experience, but the grey space of inaction behind every assault case with a he-said-she-said.

to brighten the mood, i made stickers inspired by lisa frank and the stickers you get after getting a shot; as well as a zine with basic information about dialectical behavioral therapy (a very helpful therapy technique about helping to manage anxiety/extreme emotion in the moment 10/10 would recommend). read the zine (includes printable version)