I created Chained Potential to depict the reality of living with chronic daily migraine. My brain, bursting with ideas and colour, also holds me back. The world passes by in a hazy blur, but I am stationary, focused on the hurt of opportunities and connections lost.

I wanted to express growing through pain and overcoming it.

Healing hurt begins with comfort and conversation, much like sharing in a cup of tea. As easily as we can share a cup of tea, we can share knowledge to impact the lives of children living with pain and their families. Each piece of this tea set embodies the knowledge and strength of those around the table. The teapot represents knowledge holders - with waves symbolizing the knowledge that sustains and rejuvenates diverse life forms, and the spouted vessel reflecting the flow of water to those in need. The cups represent families, designed with sprouts to symbolize different ages and stages of life. Pediatric pain can take a physical and mental toll on families, as represented by the cracks in one of the cups. These cracks, however, have been repaired with the knowledge and support of those around the table. The repair not only allows for resumed function; it also adds an element of fortitude and growth - the epitome of resilience. The pieces on their own are not functional – the teapot with nowhere to pour tea and the cups with nothing to fill them. These pieces are best when together, just as clinicians, researchers, and families are most effective when they work together to generate and share knowledge about pain. We are most effective when we sit together – over a cup of tea. This functional set was crafted on a potter's wheel. Carvings were etched into leather-hard clay, and bisque fired at nearly 1000°C. After intricately applying the glazes, the set was fired once more. One cup was broken and repaired using the Japanese art of kintsugi.

I am a quadriplegic that paints using my mouth. Prior to this I used to paint all the time, since my accident I have learned how to paint using my mouth only. This painting represents my life and changes I have needed to grow through, It shows the different challenges that intertwine and how to move within my new way of life. Lost, alone, and broken.

I wanted to convey beauty in the dark, a fantasy place, If you take it in for a moment under that tree looking up at the stars says peace to me. I also wanted to show you can still find beauty in what you love with a disability, I must use my mouth as I am completely paralyzed from neck down.