The Soul Has Bandaged Moments
Kensington Cochran '20, Conroy Intern
Published by the Hood Museum of Art, Dartmouth, 2021, 4 pages
Our interactions with the outside world change the biochemistry of our bodies and brains. After a traumatizing event, some people develop permanent changes. In Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), the body's biochemical stress response system is thrown out of balance, resulting in some combination of four characteristic behavioral symptoms: intrusive recollection (nightmares and flashbacks), avoidance (of physical spaces, people, or sensebased triggers), negative cognitions (depression), and alterations in arousal (increased startle reflex, panic and anxiety, reckless behavior) . . . It would be inappropriate and scientifically inaccurate to imply diagnoses [of PTSD] for the artists represented in this exhibition; however, all of the objects on view can be understood as processing some form of trauma. Through their work, these modern and contemporary artists expand the definition of trauma, validate psychological damage as a physical injury, and describe processes of healing.