I made an installation titled Bugs, Metal, and Bandages and an art film that showcased the audience’s interaction with the artwork. The writings and doodles on the castings reflect negative emotions and intrusive thoughts that belonged to me and the audience. After finishing writing, I handed a bat to the audience to express their frustrations by destroying art.

The project was inspired by an accident in October 2023. While I was fixing my shoe rack, a metal pipe punctured my chin by accident. I used art to connect with people by transforming bandages into castings, metal pipes into trees, and my violet carpenter bee painting into bugs breaking free from trauma. The video combines the recording of participants’ writing, the destruction of art, and my reimagined experience overlayed by animation.