Introduction

Artistic representations of pain do work in myriad ways, from debilitation and disfiguration to rejuvenation and even redemption. Our works were selected based on a mix of visual and historical cues - symbols and narratives that fit into our own schematic frameworks of “pain.” We approached our analyses by searching for themes of redemption, considering incidences of pain in the broader context of their surprising ability to heal, restore, and renew. From our seemingly disparate lenses of history, biology, and comparative literature, our different approaches revealed a unifying artistic impulse - multiple languages describing the same thing. This collection describes pain as catalyst for positive change, and our analyses chart those journeys through each work of art.