mixed media, collage

“The exploration of the SOS Art Retrospective inspired me to create something that’s more hidden. I saw pieces that were over the Flint Michigan crisis and thought about how I forgot about this problem altogether and this made me think of other forgotten problems. The one that came to mind was unseen mental health issues. Many people might not know that something is wrong or hide it so well that no one else does either.
Through doing this topic I learned more about how undiagnosed mental health issues can make the persons affected feel even worse. Most times they feel alone and that nobody knows that something is wrong or they feel like everyone can tell and it feels like everyone is watching them. These people who are affected need to be seen and heard so they can get the help they need.
At first, when coming up with my idea, I was planning on making a crowd of people with one person standing out but thinking further I found that that would not have given off the message I wanted. I decided on painting over the many words with tentacles to show how it can consume someone’s life. I painted the eyes to show how it feels to think everyone is watching and how it consumes you.
The items I collaged actually were from an article about how mental illness is affecting people today during covid. This article seemed perfect for the art I was making and I thought the bigger words would stand out even more.
I was trying to communicate the message that mental health can consume people’s lives without even their close family or friends even knowing. I wanted to show how it felt when they try to explain what’s wrong but they feel judged. Showing this imagery might make people become more observant of the people around them and help them if they seem like they are in need of it.”