top of page

Our 2023 Art Awards theme was “Pain and Social Life”.

The Canadian Pain Society Art Awards were created to engage a broad audience and contribute to knowledge mobilization and develop new tools for teaching and communicating about pain and its impact on social life.  With a new theme each year, we showcase the variety of artwork presented by clinicians, scientists, educators, artists, and people living with pain.

Celebrating the Beauty and Power of Art

Decoration/Deterioration

Lucy Sharpe

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: An oil painting. 

One of the most isolating factors of chronic pain for me is that my condition is not visible. Last year I had a particularly bad flare up. Standing, sitting, pretty much anything that wasn’t lying down caused shooting nerve pain. It was so strange to be so consumed by it while doing everyday things like going to class and shopping for groceries. There was such a profound disconnect between my interior experience and the way I was being perceived. This painting is my attempt to externalize these feelings. I wanted to paint something confronting, that forced people to think about their own relationships to their bodies. The only way I have found to successfully navigate the world in while in pain is to be endlessly compassionate towards my body and it’s needs. This is not always easy: Pain makes me angry, and sad, and often ungenerous towards myself and others. The little hair clips and the string of pearls represent the little things I do to care for myself and remind myself of the beauty and capability of my body. It was important to me that I represent both the pain and the care in this piece.

Pain and the Circle of Life

Eglee Gimon

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: A combination of watercolor paint, crayons, a fine-point black ink marker, colored pencils, and glitter.

Pain alerts us of something wrong with our physical being, and its expression can be magnified or diminished by circumstances in our personal/ social/ spiritual life. Throughout our life we are exposed to circumstances that may lead us to experience pain and pain may also influence the way we interact with others around us. Furthermore, throughout our life we are influenced by the roles played by people in our lives, and we ourselves play roles that change our experience of pain. This picture depicts the circle of life, the person is going through the stages of life, influenced by different roles of others in ones life and also by also playing roles oneself within the societal sphere . The roles are depicted by hats, the ones worn/played by the person are shadowed in yellow, the roles played by others are not shadowed in yellow but do influence the person’s life by setting limits, creating stressors or providing coping mechanisms.

Sinus Brio and Me with Errands Get Together Go Go Go

Nadia Osman

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: Designed on Apple Freeform.

My work is Drawing of my Sinus headaches. Which is typically have the following terrible symptoms: Pressure-like pain in one specific area of your face or head , Jaw, cheeks , Eyes, behind your eyes) Face is tender to the touch. Pain is worse with sudden movements of the head and bending forward. Can’t organize myself for the day and few days, uncomfortable, incomplete tasks, Shock pains all over , Feeling like missing piece of puzzle all thoughts of black all over my mind , thoughts. Trying to solve, fix, and ponder over.

The Solitudes of Pain

Lesley Singer

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: Sketching.

My granddaughter sketched this at school and when I saw it it made me think of the social isolation of youth in pain.

Hidden People

Samantha Zrobin

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: Air Clay, wood, and paint.

This picture depicts the social life of a person in chronic pain. The pain wraps itself around like a tree branch, smothering their skin, piercing them. They are often hidden in the background, fading away from their friends. They often watch their friends, participate in activities.

Still Good

Kristina Bogdan

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: Acrylic on canvas. Painted with the non-dominant hand due to suffering a spinal cord injury in the cervicocranial junction in April 2022. 

The painting depicts a browned and bruised banana amongst a bunch unblemished ones. The bruised banana represents the individual whose body, identity, and wellbeing has been impacted by their experiences of living with chronic pain. The unblemished bananas represent people who are close with the individual in pain, such as family and friends. The bruised banana is part of the bunch and therefore included with them if purchased. Although chronic pain is often deemed invisible to others, those living with it may feel as though they are branded as undesirable by the world around them. Despite this, the bruised banana is still good – perhaps even better -- due to its desirability as an ingredient for desserts. The ripened banana in the painting is garnished with accents of reflective, golden paint to represent the beauty and value it brings to the bunch.

Lives with Chronic Pain

Sandra Woods

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques:  This semi-abstract watercolour painting, on 100% cotton paper, was created using only transparent pigments. This helped create an illusion of depth in the background fire, as the paler cotton was allowed to glow through. 

Although it’s estimated that One in Five Canadians lives with chronic pain, this condition is often linked with social isolation. We might say that “misery loves company”, but no one really wants to listen to someone talk about their persistent – ongoing and possibly permanent – pain. So the person in pain becomes a pariah, the one left alone at social events – if they’re invited at all. In this image the background flame depicts the burning pain of Complex Regional Pain Syndrome (CRPS), with One in Five consumed by this orange fire. Of the Four blue figures, representing cooling comfort, all but One are looking away from the person in pain – ignoring their distress. It takes only One to provide comfort, and hope. Be that One person.

Awakening and Choosing to Exist

Anne-Marie Roy

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: This drawing is done in graphite and white chalk on tinted paper.

Through my practice as a physiotherapist, I see people isolated with their chronic pain. The price for a simple outing is too high and the recovery time, too long. The isolation comes for many reasons, for example the physical limitations, feeling annoying with the complaints or just misunderstood. All though they avoid talking about it, they burn inside and want to express it as LOUD as they can. But they don’t… Until, they realize how much the pain is ruling their lives. Then they make different choices. They cannot act as if it doesn’t exist, so they act accepting that part of them. I see them changing their view on things, seeing the suffering more as a quest to find themselves again. They switch a bit the ultimate goal. It becomes more about fulfilment than pain. They share their experiences through different activities either in a group or a personal practice like art. They learn to live their lives differently. They learn to love themselves again, not in spite of the pain but regardless of it. Their journeys are long, hard and sinuous but at the same time beautiful and inspiring.

Unrelenting Pain and Suffering

Dayna Fesciuc

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: This Artwork was free hand sketched then coloured with PITT Artist Brush Pens on Canvas Paper with a textured finish.

This Artwork clearly depicts the 24/7 pain, feeling of isolation, trapped inside experiences I have daily from CRPS, Fibromyalgia, Migraines and Depression.

Invisible Isolation

Aislinn L.

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: Pencil and watercolor.

“Invisible Isolation”, represents how I feel as a young woman living with many forms of chronic pain. At times, I feel trapped, like I cannot break free, as if an invisible force field is restricting me. I can see the world moving on around me, I am visible to others, and yet I am not truly seen. Physically and externally I appear as any other young woman, but on the inside, I suffer crippling and excruciating pain from a medical condition that is a mystery to most people. For individuals suffering from chronic pain, daily life is completely altered; we push ourselves to break free, but often feel trapped in a crowd of seclusion.

Death’s Embrace

Terry Wilde

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: Acrylic on hard panel. Lili switched from layering watercolour to acrylic when she felt that her time was running short

Death’s Embrace was painted by the late Lili wilde who lived with 3 rare disorders including full body CRPS a high level pain disorder. Lili was a strong advocate for herself and other patients around the world, but face to face social interaction was a challenge with her medical conditions. This painting depicts her experience of death constantly looking over her shoulder, her one constant companion. Like Lili, many patients with pain disorders and chronic conditions, face chalenges maintaining a social life. Death was a reality that Lili had to face, much sooner them she should due to her conditions and healthcare harm.

Together

Doriana Taccardi

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: Colored pencil sketch. I used my MacPRO to modify my drawing, to add colors and to insert the embedded text of my poem.

Before starting my career as a researcher in Chronic Pain, I worked as a clinical assistant. One of the people I came in contact with was a young woman in her 20s, she had a Traumatic Brain Injury that resulted in chronic pain. She was very energetic and curious, but her pain often too intense to allow her to do what she wanted to do. Her family did not really understand her condition. She felt lonely and misunderstood. She had sorrow in her eyes, but was able to hide it with a smile. I introduced her to a Brain Injury charity, she met virtually with them, they were sharing their stories every week. When her pain was too intense, she wanted to join the weekly meeting with her camera off to listen to their stories anyway. This poem and artwork is about her and what she taught me about living with chronic pain, about the importance of surrounding yourself with people who can understand your sorrow, or maybe can't completely understand but are able to be there for you. Sometimes you don't need to do something or change something, you just need to be there for someone.

Comfort/Discomfort

Suha Sagheer

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: Acrylic and pen on canvas.

Someone close to me once described living with chronic pain as being an isolating and lonely experience. Yet, the social and familial support they received on a day-to-day basis helped them to get through the day. Here, I used abstract lines and contrasting colours to depict the comfort from social support in the midst of experiencing the discomfort of living with pain.

Painful Isolation: The Loneliness of Chronic Pain and its Impact on Social Participation

Tharini Manikandan

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: For this artwork, I utilized a pencil to create sketches in the background and the central drawing, while opting for pen to outline the vivid and colorful figures located on the outer edges. Additionally, I incorporated oil pastels to fill the figures with bright and vibrant colors.

My aim with this artwork is to depict the emotional terrain of suffering and disconnection. The central figure, experiencing physical unease and seclusion, stands apart from the others. Through the use of color, I have tried to capture the various emotional dimensions of pain and its impact on an individual's social interactions.

Kept Hidden

Tarannum Rahnuma

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: This painting was made with acrylic on canvas.

My piece aims to capture the lived experiences of those with chronic pain, which affects approximately 1 in 5 Canadians. The daily struggle of managing chronic pain can make even the simplest tasks challenging, particularly in social situations where individuals may feel pressured to conceal their symptoms to avoid being stigmatized or perceived as a burden. My painting captures the emotional and physical toll of masking pain in social settings, particularly during happy occasions such as celebrations. Through "Kept Hidden", I hope to foster greater empathy and understanding of the experiences of those living with chronic pain. I believe that by raising awareness and encouraging dialogue, we can create a more supportive and inclusive society that recognizes the challenges faced by those with pain.

Waves of Grief

Newton Martin

A Person with Lived Experience

Description of the Techniques: Vector Art.

Pain hinders our ability to pay attention to the things that matter. When I feel pain I'm often anxious, desperately looking for a place to escape or withdraw. On other days I am bold and motivated to carry on despite the fatigue and stress. It is easy to see the bigger picture when experiencing acute pain and stressors, because we know it will go away soon. However, many people in the world today are in pain over-and-over again. Each painful experience becomes a barrier for people to live a full and enjoyable life. This art piece manifests the uncertainty of long-term painful experiences. The waves of varying color signifies the emotional weight associated with our unsettling or anxious experiences. The sun adds hope to the picture because through the trashing and beating of the waves the sun never ceases to shine. When we take a step back and picture our lives from a different angle, the collage of our collective experiences becomes less of a mess and more of a masterpiece. In time, our experiences transform from being a barrier into being fuel for personal narrative and character.

Game of Endurance

Elnaz Alikarami

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

View the full comic here!

Description of the Techniques: Pen on paper

Game of Endurance, is a brief narration of my observations from my good friend who suffered from a facial chronic pain. Her pain lasted for 12 years, before she finally got the right treatment and this short comic is adapted by her experiences and her difficulties of living her everyday life with this challenging medical condition, from the time the pain started until after her recovery from a risky treatment. Her life, as many other people with chronic pain, had many ups and downs, which are not easy to be recognized.

Through Art and Sound: A Social Journey in the Experience of Pain

Laura Hernandez

Trainees, Researchers, Clinicians

Description of the Techniques: 

Digital mixed media sculpture: Plexiglass, LED lights, acrylic and spray paint.

Video mapping: Painting with Light v2.0.1.

Sounds: Performed with violin and voice. Generated and edited using GarageBand, Adobe Premiere Pro 2021).

Visuals: Prisma, Adobe Photoshop 2021, Adobe Premiere Pro 2021.

Content warning: Flashing lights. People with chronic pain may have limited social lives, experiencing sadness, otherness, and even feeling like their pain is not believed. Pain-related disability can affect those caring for people with pain, eliciting feelings of stress. Still, high-quality relationships might positively affect individuals with pain, and pain validation could help them cope. These complex relationships between pain and social life inspired our digital mixed media sculpture. First, images projected onto the brain figure portray sensations of pain, accompanied by emotions of hurt and isolation. The sharp sound of pain and its distortion allude to pain intensity and feeling pain itself. Then, enriching, healthy relationships co-occur despite the pain. Taken from Erik Satie’s Gymnopédie No. 1, the music depicts a conversation between pain (the resonant violin) and one’s social network (voice) to mirror how social life intersperses the experiences of those with pain. As the song progresses, the note symbolizing pain is constantly present; however, the final chord sings the harmony that supportive, high-quality relationships may bring, as family and friends journey with individuals with chronic pain. Conceptualization and sculpture: Laura Hernández, William Forero, Mica Marbil Visuals: Laura Hernández, William Forero Audio: Laura Hernández, Mica Marbil

2023 Submissions

2023 Submissions

Showcasing a variety of artworks presented by clinicians, scientists, educators, and people who live with pain.

This year, we are delighted to accept submissions from CPS members as well as from the public-at-large.  You are eligible to submit your work until March 31, 2023.  Check back for more information regarding voting for our 2023 winner.

Constellations of chronic pain and depression research: A network visualisation 

Abhimanyu Sud 

Trainee/research Category

Description of the Techniques: Created using Gephi 0.9.2 for generating the network, Adobe Illustrator for labelling pain and intervention types, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint for outputting in video format. 

People living with chronic pain often experience depression, but understanding and treating these two conditions together can be very difficult.To get a better idea of which treatments might improve depression for people with chronic pain, systematic reviews have been conducted to compile results from multiple clinical trials. These reviews usually focus on one type of chronic pain or a certain kind of treatment. An umbrella review then compiles the results from multiple systematic reviews, to get the broadest possible picture. An umbrella review can tell us what kinds of treatments have been studied for the effects on depression, and for what kinds of chronic pain conditions. This network visualization shows a constellation of 83 systematic reviews (grey dots), and the 459 clinical trials that they synthesise (blue dots when included by one systematic review; green dots when included by more than one). Looking at the network of systematic reviews and clinical trials, we identified groups based on types of treatments (labels and outlines) and kinds of chronic pain conditions (coloured clouds). This network visualization provides a big picture view of research on depression and chronic pain, and the gaps that are worth investigating in future studies and reviews.

Constellations of chronic pain and depression research: A network visualisation 

Abhimanyu Sud 

Trainee/research Category

Description of the Techniques: Created using Gephi 0.9.2 for generating the network, Adobe Illustrator for labelling pain and intervention types, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint for outputting in video format. 

People living with chronic pain often experience depression, but understanding and treating these two conditions together can be very difficult.To get a better idea of which treatments might improve depression for people with chronic pain, systematic reviews have been conducted to compile results from multiple clinical trials. These reviews usually focus on one type of chronic pain or a certain kind of treatment. An umbrella review then compiles the results from multiple systematic reviews, to get the broadest possible picture. An umbrella review can tell us what kinds of treatments have been studied for the effects on depression, and for what kinds of chronic pain conditions. This network visualization shows a constellation of 83 systematic reviews (grey dots), and the 459 clinical trials that they synthesise (blue dots when included by one systematic review; green dots when included by more than one). Looking at the network of systematic reviews and clinical trials, we identified groups based on types of treatments (labels and outlines) and kinds of chronic pain conditions (coloured clouds). This network visualization provides a big picture view of research on depression and chronic pain, and the gaps that are worth investigating in future studies and reviews.

Constellations of chronic pain and depression research: A network visualisation 

Abhimanyu Sud 

Trainee/research Category

Description of the Techniques: Created using Gephi 0.9.2 for generating the network, Adobe Illustrator for labelling pain and intervention types, and Microsoft Office PowerPoint for outputting in video format. 

People living with chronic pain often experience depression, but understanding and treating these two conditions together can be very difficult.To get a better idea of which treatments might improve depression for people with chronic pain, systematic reviews have been conducted to compile results from multiple clinical trials. These reviews usually focus on one type of chronic pain or a certain kind of treatment. An umbrella review then compiles the results from multiple systematic reviews, to get the broadest possible picture. An umbrella review can tell us what kinds of treatments have been studied for the effects on depression, and for what kinds of chronic pain conditions. This network visualization shows a constellation of 83 systematic reviews (grey dots), and the 459 clinical trials that they synthesise (blue dots when included by one systematic review; green dots when included by more than one). Looking at the network of systematic reviews and clinical trials, we identified groups based on types of treatments (labels and outlines) and kinds of chronic pain conditions (coloured clouds). This network visualization provides a big picture view of research on depression and chronic pain, and the gaps that are worth investigating in future studies and reviews.

Submission Categories

You can submit your art to one of two categories; Scientific and 'Pain and Social Life'.  The deadline for submissions is March 31, 2023. Please view our guidelines for more details.

Prizes

Win one of three prizes, each for $200 CAD!  There will be one winner in the scientific category, and two winners for 'Pain and Social Life' category (one for people with lived experience and one for trainees or faculty).

Voting

Voting for this year's winners is up to our Canadian Pain Society members!  Voting will take place between April 3rd and 21st, 2023.  Not a member yet?

Kept Hidden

Tarannum Rahnuma

Winner of our Pain Professional Category

Description of the Techniques: This painting was made with acrylic on canvas.

My piece aims to capture the lived experiences of those with chronic pain, which affects approximately 1 in 5 Canadians. The daily struggle of managing chronic pain can make even the simplest tasks challenging, particularly in social situations where individuals may feel pressured to conceal their symptoms to avoid being stigmatized or perceived as a burden. My painting captures the emotional and physical toll of masking pain in social settings, particularly during happy occasions such as celebrations. Through "Kept Hidden", I hope to foster greater empathy and understanding of the experiences of those living with chronic pain. I believe that by raising awareness and encouraging dialogue, we can create a more supportive and inclusive society that recognizes the challenges faced by those with pain.

Waves of Grief

Newton Martin

Winner of our Person with Lived Experience Category

Description of the Techniques: Vector Art.

Pain hinders our ability to pay attention to the things that matter. When I feel pain I'm often anxious, desperately looking for a place to escape or withdraw. On other days I am bold and motivated to carry on despite the fatigue and stress. It is easy to see the bigger picture when experiencing acute pain and stressors, because we know it will go away soon. However, many people in the world today are in pain over-and-over again. Each painful experience becomes a barrier for people to live a full and enjoyable life. This art piece manifests the uncertainty of long-term painful experiences. The waves of varying color signifies the emotional weight associated with our unsettling or anxious experiences. The sun adds hope to the picture because through the trashing and beating of the waves the sun never ceases to shine. When we take a step back and picture our lives from a different angle, the collage of our collective experiences becomes less of a mess and more of a masterpiece. In time, our experiences transform from being a barrier into being fuel for personal narrative and character.

Invisible Isolation

Aislinn L.

Winner of our Person with Lived Experience Category

Description of the Techniques: Pencil and watercolor.

“Invisible Isolation”, represents how I feel as a young woman living with many forms of chronic pain. At times, I feel trapped, like I cannot break free, as if an invisible force field is restricting me. I can see the world moving on around me, I am visible to others, and yet I am not truly seen. Physically and externally I appear as any other young woman, but on the inside, I suffer crippling and excruciating pain from a medical condition that is a mystery to most people. For individuals suffering from chronic pain, daily life is completely altered; we push ourselves to break free, but often feel trapped in a crowd of seclusion.

Our 2023 Winners

bottom of page