As we sketched the dense, curved lines, we felt a strong sense of unease in our body. There was a feeling of harsh contraction in our guts. This gut feeling opened the door to connect with empathy, not only for our own physical state, but also for the lives and suffering of others
The gut feeling reminded us of the Felt Sense we had during the influx of Syrian refugees and Ukrainian war survivors in 2016 and 2022
People arrived by train, bus, private car, and on foot. To survive, they had to squeeze their bodies into overcrowded rolling rescue spaces in inhuman ways
Vivid images of refugee documentations from 2016 and 2022 came to mind: We could physically feel the sensation of being 'squeezed in' while holding the brush
This physical sensation expanded into a felt awareness of the existential situation of refugees in 2016 and 2022 as a collective