albaxsais

KAWAII DRUGS

Lacrimal, 2025

KAWAII DRUGS – Finding a wholesome approah to healing

KAWAII DRUGS is a visual art project exploring the connections between emotional trauma, chronic illness, and the medicalization of life in Western societies. Drawing from my own experience with Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) that somatized into chronic physical illness, I embark on a journey of self-discovery where I connect the dots between emotional and physical expressions with an improvement on my symptoms.

EXPOSITION at IRMÃ FEIA, Salão de Inverno, Lisbon December 2025

My body, saturated with pills, creams, and eye drops at a pretty early age, inspired me to create a contemporary still life: a visual representation of our dependence on legal drugs. I began to ask myself: What would it mean to inhabit my body without this pharmacopoeia? Are there other ways to heal that truly integrate the body, mind, and emotion?

More than 78% of people diagnosed with autoimmune diseases are women. A statistic that genetics alone cannot explain. This project also engages with a feminist reflection on how women are taught to repress emotions, desires, and needs in order to care for others. That emotional disconnection comes at a price: somatization. Because if we don’t listen to the body, it will scream until it is heard.

Disclaimer: Generative Adobe Illustrator AI has been used in this artwork.

KAWAII DRUGS under Comission

Hipérico, 2026