Sam Hill

Sam Hill explores the experience of living with chronic pain through creating costumes, masks, and movement. Traditionally, masks are symbols of disguise and offer a chance to escape the world by hiding one’s face. However, in this series masks represent another’s burden layered on their own. Each mask is made with the intention to bring discomfort and build empathy towards others: the inner styrofoam spheres press against the face, while the tight elastic band puts pressure on the temples, eye sockets, and cheeks to stimulate an oncoming headache. The viewer's experience of wearing these masks is augmented by the positioning of the bodies shown modelling them in the videos. These figures are performing pain alleviation rituals often found on Western health and wellness blogs. Designed to alleviate physcial afflictions, these exercises or stretches focus on coping mechanisms and their effectiveness in solving long-term physical impairments, daily struggles, or occasional irritations. Techniques such as drinking tea or rubbing your temples are sure to do something to the body, but how effective are these routines when dealing with chronic agony?

Sam Hill is a fifth year Art & Art History student in the joint University of Toronto Mississauga and Sheridan College program. In addition to studying studio art, she has taken courses in art education and art history through which she has gained knowledge that weaves into her artistic practice. Although Hill specializes in painting and drawing, her artistic practice encompasses diverse media such as printmaking, digital and film photography, video editing, graphic design, pottery, and sculpture. Her work explores the correlations found between mental health, physical health, and femininity through queer and feminist frameworks.