Sew Me Up

Date of Production: February 2024

Medium: Code Art (p5.js, JavaScript library)

Artist Statement:
Sew Me Up takes its name from a song by Spiritbox, a genre-bending band from British Columbia. This track depicts the feeling of being haunted by emotional wounds and trying to move forward in spite of these lingering “shadows.” A recurring lyric in the song, “It’s a curse if you care enough,” particularly resonated with me and helped shape the direction of my work. This line speaks to the emotional toll of empathy: how caring deeply can leave us open to pain, yet it’s through that same vulnerability that healing becomes possible. 

I aimed to capture this paradox in my piece–depicting someone who knows the pain of being vulnerable all too well, but embraces it all the same. Created using p5.js, Sew Me Up features the precise layering of over thirty shapes to stylistically depict a nude feminine figure with her back toward the viewer. This figure is deliberately faceless, meant to underscore the universality of these experiences. The tone of this piece is meant to feel intimate—poignant yet hopeful; my hope is that viewers will connect with the figure’s quiet plea to be taken care of. 

Albeit unconventional, I chose to realize this concept using code art due to its unique capacity for precision and flexibility. As someone relatively new to creative coding, this introduced a number of challenges, particularly in adapting my vision to work within the constraints of this medium. For one, crafting the figure’s composition required extensive planning and plotting. After trying various approaches, I decided to use a combination of bezier curves and 2D primitives to construct the figure, applying the translate() and rotate() functions to achieve the smoothest silhouette possible. Ultimately, through an iterative (and admittedly tedious) process, I was able to bring my vision to life. In a way, the frustrations I faced mirrored the themes of the piece itself—how healing is often messy, nonlinear, or even tiresome, yet ultimately rewarding. 

Another key design choice involved adjusting hex codes to create varying levels of translucency, allowing the overlapping of shapes to remain visible. This stylistic depiction of the human form is meant to reflect how individuals are made up of a unique mosaic of lived experiences. Each of us carries imprints of joy, pain, hope, and regret—facets of ourselves that often go unseen. Through this piece, I wanted to illustrate the universal need for empathy and support, particularly during difficult times. My aim is to show how, in exercising vulnerability and revealing what is often hidden, we open the door to genuine connection and healing.