The project looks at the relationship between masks and the face, with a specific focus on chronic pain and pain expressions. Pain is a human experience, an experience we all encounter throughout life apart from a small minority with certain rare conditions. We are a mixture of identities depending on social situation, we use social masks to portray the self and identity we want to portray at a given time. Chronic pain can become a person’s self, it is up to the individual to allow the pain to define them or allow themselves to define the pain. People must define their own identity to live life to the fullest.

Pain expression masks have been created utilizing a digital scan of my own face. The Masks have been sculpted digitally in ZBrush in addition i have utilized analogue methods to mould and cast the face in silicone. Various finishes and surfaces have been explored to account for my own perception of chronic pain. A lighting element also explores the intensity of pain, allowing the viewer to observe projections of pain that can be metamorphized onto an object, the object being the masks. The masks have been created to allow the viewer to touch and exchange between the pain masks allowing for a tactile and sensory experience.