Phantasmal

A show dedicated to the struggles of mental health.

Mental struggle is phantasmal. Phantasmal is taken from the word phantom, a specter of a past life. Mental wellness comes and goes like a spirit in the night, sometimes without a trace. Like spirits, mental health is doubted, with some doubting if mental illness exists. For centuries mental health has been looked at as phantasmal in a sense. The ideas of changeling children and profession driven madness still prevail today. Phantasmal strives to visualize and bring attention to the lesser-known aspects of mental health. Areas that are often ignored. 

Phantasmal contains a combination of stone lithographs and copper etchings. Both color and texture are used to convey thoughts and feelings abstractly. The show will consist of six total prints, each detailing an aspect of declining mental health, the last in particular depicting the start of recovery. I have struggled with most of the mental health aspects shown, and it has shaped my worldview and my work as an artist. My practice has ebbed and flowed, as had my mental health. Printmaking is monotonous. It allows for easy hyper fixation. Hyperfixation is something most people with mental health issues deal with; it is usually a curse. One works with hyper fixation until burnt out. However, I have used my fixation to my advantage to create intricate looping, along with delicate shading. This fixation ebbs and flows and is therefore phantasmal.

The one thing that doesn’t ebb and flow is my love for my craft. Printmaking is soothing to me and grounds me in a way nothing else can. The studio is my personal happy place. In a way, I see my own mental strife as a positive. The lows are challenging, but the high points give way to beautiful works. To be an artist is to overcome battle, to face the odds. 

To be an artist is to be phantasmal. To allow the constant ebb and flow of the mind and world to guide you in your endeavors, regardless if others believe it or not.

Title- Mania  Date- October 2020  Dimensions- 1406 x 1920  Size- 28 x 32   Copper Intaglio

Title- Depression  Date- October 2020  Dimensions- 1406 x 1920  Size- 28 x 32   Copper Intaglio

Title- Religious Ideation  Date- November 2020  Dimensions- 1323 x 1671  Size- 11 x 15   Lithograph

Title- Dissociation Date- September 2020  Dimensions- 390 x 1880  Size- 5 x 1  Copper Intaglio

Title- Rage Date- October 2020  Dimensions- 715 x 1920  Size- 4 x 15   Copper Intaglio

Title- Recovery  Date- October 2020  Dimensions- 1012 x 1909  Size- 6 x 12   Copper Intaglio