Nursing

“Touch reassures an infant that it’s safe; it seems to give the body a go-ahead to develop normally.  In many experiments conducted all over the country, babies who were held more became more alert and developed better cognitive abilities years later.” This piece represents the powerful touch that an infant experiences when nursing. To me it embodies the reassurance that a baby feels as it is being cared for, not only because the infant is being held closely to his mother’s warm body, but also receiving nourishment, all through touch. It is a beautiful and natural early form of touch.

Girl in the Mirror

“What is a sense of one’s self?  To a large extent, it has to do with touch, with how we feel… Not that our sense of self is necessarily accurate.  Each of us has an exaggerated mental picture of our body… because that is the way their body feels to them.” This sketch represents how one girl sees herself, in her form of reality.  How she feels about herself is a much bigger version than how others see her.  When she touches her hips, she feels a much bigger person than it is in reality, but it is her reality because that is how she feels, both inside and outside of her body.  My younger sister suffers from body image dysmorphia, as well as one of my closest friends.  It is a challenging and emotional process to change the mind of someone who ‘feels’ the way they feel, even if the person understands they are measuring themselves in an excessive manner.