Progress That Hurts Me is a representation of the conflicting inner battle one can have around progression and change. The need for physical progress and the inability to allow myself to rest present themselves in debilitating ways of picking at my skin and not sleeping. I closely photograph the parts of my skin I’m most uncomfortable with and make them into larger prints I physically manipulate with X-Acto knives, screws, pins, and scissors to mimc the act of skin picking. Delicately scraping my imperfections on fine art paper is an intimate and emotional experience, inviting viewers to a harmful act I partake in in secret. Large, up-close prints are framed by metal screws protruding out of black cardboard to create a physical boundary between the viewer and my skin, while also pertaining to the physical pain I endure. Simultaneously, I pair these works with scanned Polaroids of textures I find in the world which reflect my emotional experience. The rigid shapes and dense textures relate to the physical sensation of discomfort experienced when feeling unsettled in one’s body.