The collection Sticks and Stones (that look like bones) illustrates the interconnection of humans and nature. The images display a disintegration of form communicating a passage of time and resemble painful bodily experiences. From a humanistic perspective, the natural objects turned subjects represent the frailty of life. Visually poetic, the images impart the importance of reflecting on the transmission of information; not all we see (or hear) imparts a reliable first impression. The collection, titled as a unique play on words, invites viewers to reconsider the rhyme, “Sticks and stones may break my bones. But words shall never hurt me.”

Kari is currently a graduate student at Purdue University studying bioarchaeology. Her research interest is revealing experienced and witnessed pain to contribute to alternative perspectives on how pain is negotiated in a culturally diverse world.