ARTIST STATEMENT
Mental illness related childhood trauma engulfs its audience in ‘Silent Struggles’. It represents my brains responses to the situations I face, and the way my brain functions with the trauma related illnesses I have been diagnosed with. The room filled with glowing white lines creates familiarity, order and comfort, a space for the neon data colour blocks to reside. Hovering above the arranged toys are smears of coloured thought and data over childhood trauma brain scans. Mirrors are seen throughout, causing confrontation and expanding the space. Colours, shapes, and lines force the audience’s engagement and prompts them to interpret their own meaning.
ARTWORK PROCESS
My objective was to create a body of work that is a visual representation of the childhood I experienced and the long lasting diagnosis period I experienced. Colours, shapes, and lines force the audience’s engagement and prompts them to interpret their own meaning. Neon boards are placed strategically around the room and represent the statistics researched; Insomnia, Depression, Anxiety and ADHD. The soundscape is taken from our schools’ primary playground and echoes fun and play. It is a jolting reminder and ode to a childhood lost by trauma.
