Hospital of Emotions, Room 60: Compassion Dept., Los Angeles

Room 60: Compassion Department

I am honored to be one of more than 70 artists participating in Hospital of Emotions, a large-scale immersive art experience that transforms a former Los Angeles hospital into a journey through the full spectrum of human emotion. Spanning four floors and more than 80 rooms, the exhibition invites visitors to explore deeply personal installations that examine what it means to be human. Each room represents a different emotional state, creating a collective portrait of our shared inner lives.

My contribution, Room 60: Compassion Department, explores the unseen emotional worlds carried within every person. Inspired by the realities of hospitals and caregiving environments, the installation examines how we often encounter one another through roles such as patient, caregiver, doctor, family member, or visitor, while rarely seeing the whole person beneath those labels. The room invites visitors to imagine the thoughts, memories, fears, hopes, and experiences that exist beyond what is immediately visible.

At the heart of the installation is the idea that every person contains two worlds: the visible and the invisible. While our bodies may be familiar and understood, the inner worlds they carry are uniquely personal. In medicine, light reveals the physical. In the Compassion Department, light and language become tools for revealing something less tangible: the emotional landscapes that shape who we are. The work encourages visitors to consider how much remains unseen in every interaction and how empathy begins when we acknowledge the complexity of another person's experience.

Compassion is often described as understanding another person's suffering, but I believe it extends further. It is the recognition that none of us move through life untouched. We all carry joy, grief, uncertainty, love, disappointment, hope, and resilience. The installation asks a simple question: What might change if we could truly see what each person holds inside? How might our conversations, relationships, and communities transform if we approached one another with greater curiosity, patience, and care?

The response to Hospital of Emotions has been extraordinary. The exhibition welcomed more than 10,000 visitors during its opening week and quickly became one of Los Angeles' most talked-about cultural experiences. It has been featured by the Los Angeles Times, Time Out, and numerous media outlets, while social media creators and influencers have introduced the project to audiences around the world. The overwhelming response speaks to a growing desire for experiences that encourage reflection, connection, and emotional understanding.

As both an artist and storyteller, participating in Hospital of Emotions has been an opportunity to contribute to a larger conversation about vulnerability, empathy, and our shared humanity. Room 60 is an invitation to slow down, look beyond appearances, and remember that every person we encounter is carrying a world we cannot see. Compassion begins when we recognize that truth and choose to meet one another with presence, understanding, and care.

Learn more about the exhibition at Hospital of Emotions.