"Fibromyalgia Pain Body"

Artist Statement:

Diagnosed in 2002, I drew this figure out of frustration about my fibromyalgia pain. No one can see the agony inside of me. This is my only way to show what it is like.

The excruciatingly painful pressure points in a searing red. Purple surrounds; the color of bruising, an aching all over, encased in bands of pain; a prisoner of my pain; I feel paralyzed; cannot move for fear of creating more pain.

The pain blurs into a sea of self-rejection; it engulfs my senses, numbing them to the pressures of the outside world. The blurred image is my memory loss, confusion and depression, other kinds of pain I suffer as a result of fibromyalgia.

A thorned shield of protection surrounds me. This is my pain. Don't touch me.