The Psychosomatic Creatures of Emotions
Emotions are invisible forces that shape our physical reality. Though they exist within us, they often go unrecognized, their presence only revealed through bodily sensations, illness, or distress. My project explores this paradox: emotions are unseen yet deeply felt, intangible yet physically manifest. They inhabit the body like silent creatures, shaping our experiences from within.
Invisible Fauna, 2025 (video)| invisible ink on fabric, UV light, 155 x 40cm
This work is an investigation into the psychosomatic nature of emotions, how feelings like anxiety, sadness, and stress leave traces on the body, affecting our breath, heartbeat, and digestion. In both science and traditional medicine, emotions are not separate from physiology but deeply intertwined with it. A 2013 Finnish study mapped the bodily sensations of emotions, showing that across cultures, people associate sadness with the chest, anxiety with the lungs, and stress with the gut. Similarly, Chinese and Greek medicine view emotions as energies residing in the organs, capable of either nurturing or harming the body.
Invisible Fauna, 2025 | invisible ink on fabric, UV light, 155 x 40cm
Invisible Fauna, 2025 (video)| invisible ink on fabric, UV light, 155 x 40cm
The project takes this idea further, transforming these unseen emotions into something visual: a bestiary of creatures that inhabit the body, revealing how emotional states take form within us. Each organ becomes a home for an animal that represents its hidden emotional burden. The lungs, which tighten under anxiety, become a web spun by a spider, a creature that traps and constricts. The heart, often described as breaking under sadness or racing with anxiety, swarms with bees, whose stings echo the sharp pain of loss and longing. The intestines, where emotions churn and fester, become the dwelling of a snake, inspired by Victor Hugo’s vision of the gut as a serpent within, coiling with temptation, punishment, and unrest.
By using invisible ink to draw these animals on a bodysuit, I emphasize the invisibility of emotions. At first, nothing appears on the surface, just as emotions remain hidden, but under UV light, the truth is revealed. This duality is central to my project: emotions may be invisible, but they are always present, shaping the body and mind in ways we don’t always recognize. I aim to make the invisible visible, not just as a revelation of hidden emotions, but as an acknowledgment that what is unseen is no less real.