How does art that draws from an individuals experience influence society as a whole? Does the hidden trauma of an artist provoke a reflected response for individual viewers? In this essay Oliver Guy-Watkins has investigated the work of artists using personal and collective trauma as a base for the work they produce. From Doris Salcedo's representation of the Columbian Civil War, through Bas Jan Ader's emotive films, to Louise Bourgeois and Tracey Emin's collaborative sketches. In this book a journey begins that is as vital for the author's continuing search of a route back to his own practice, as it is for every artist to question the role they must play in a world that is rapidly changing with advancements in communication and technology.