Artist Statement
The beauty of my illness lies in my art. I am an illustrator, painter, sculptor, graphic designer, and more. I’m also very ill and mentally disabled. I am bipolar, autistic and I have ADHD and C-PTSD. I also suffered brain trauma from a concussion years ago which exasperated my mental illness symptoms. I find inspiration in the darkest parts of my brain. For example, I believe my ADHD is the foundation of many of my talents. I’ve never been able to commit to just “one thing” (i.e. painting). My brain seeking dopamine through creativity and art, then ultimately becomes bored, and I move on to the “next thing”. This has made me chase new styles and media over the years. Regardless of media, my work has the same reacquiring themes: nightmares and narrative.
My depression, and mania, has greatly hindered my life. My mission in my art is to simply and fundamentally express how I am feeling and thinking- because I can’t find the words. Trying to show what my feelings look like as I am experiencing them. A deeply personal experience on the subjects of mental illness with themes of psychosis and nightmares. Story telling is the overarching theme of my work. My stories are about my experiences with mental illness and trauma throughout my life. The truth is, It’s incredibly hard for me to communicate in words, but I can put my thoughts and emotions on paper in paint or on textiles and glue. I’ve been told that my abstract work is like cloud gazing as subjective organized chaos. My illustration and sculpture is largely described as “scary”... and I agree.
