Humans have a natural tendency to compartmentalize emotions, thoughts, and memories, organizing their inner world into distinct "sections." This paper collage artwork envisions what this might look like, using vibrant, patterned, and textures like a kaleidescope, reflecting the entwined complex nature of the mind.

Several authors have researched and written about this tendency, addressing compartmentalization from different angles. Carl Jung suggests we compartmentalize to hide uncomfortable aspects of ourselves; Bessel van der Kolk, in The Body Keeps the Score, explains it as a coping mechanism stemming from trauma; Robert Jay Lifton, in The Nazi Doctors, describes it as a way to resolve inner conflicts and moral dilemmas in extreme situations; Brené Brown, in The Gifts of Imperfection, suggests it’s used to avoid vulnerability, forming a kind of social armor; and Sigmund Freud views it as a defense mechanism to protect the ego.

Framed and ready to hang.