Artist Statement

Hyper-empathy is an artwork exploring my struggle to provide emotional support. I was taught since I was young to have empathy for all the people around me. It is a cycle and generation of cultural expectations in my family.

By definition, empathy is the ability to understand and share feelings. But we often neglect the consequences of suffering from sharing too many negative emotions. It is a physical pain that causes anxiety and subjects you to their needs. It is painful and exhausting. You lose yourself in other people’s needs and poison yourself with too much compassion, even feeling guilty for others’ experiences.
The difference between empathy and hyper-empathy is balance and pathology. If empathy is a positive, helpful, and desirable attribute, you may think there is nothing wrong with having “too much” of it. However, like everything in life, the excess is never good, and it is best to have a healthy balance.