Her works primarily explore themes of the trauma and shame produced by various types of violence enacted against women and indigenous cultures and the transformative healing powers of art.
Hill explained that because her father's parents were sent to Carlisle Indian Industrial School in Pennsylvania where they faced severe punishment for speaking their native language, her grandparents never spoke or taught Cherokee to their own children or grandchildren, despite teaching them to have pride in their heritage.
In her thesis, Hill explained that each cord contained between one and 3,780 knots, representing the estimated numbers of rapes that go unreported in the United States every day.
In developing Retracing the Trace, Hill found inspiration in the work of a handful of other women artists who, similarly, explored themes of abuse and trauma, including Suzanne Lacy, Kara Walker, and Tracey Emin as well as the ideas of Jacques Lacan.
[5] Some of Hill's earlier works also drew on Cherokee creation myths to explore linkages between sexuality, fulfillment, pain, and birth, presenting indigenous American art as connected to contemporary and universal, rather than strictly historical, themes.
After Hill rose from the pile of strewn knots, her silhouette remained on the floor, the outline mirroring the imprint her own body left in the mud and leaves after her own rape.
In addition to being reminiscent of blood, the production of this particular dye by female cochineal insects to deter predators, also resonates with the major themes of Hill's work.