irony

There's a stereotype in art when depicting depression: darkness, solitude, black and white. There's an assumption when people see me— always smiling, always bubbling with enthusiasm, relatively successful in my academics— that I must be very happy. These are the types of assumptions that I attempt to shatter in this portfolio. In this portfolio, I chronicle my own personal struggle with major depression. With bright, vivid colors and images suggestive of the pursuit of perfection, I attempt to distract the viewer from the darker, morbid themes that lurk in the background of each piece, because that is what depression is: to the casual eye, it goes unnoticed, hidden by a façade. Through these (hopefully) aesthetically pleasing pieces, I hope to draw attention to the silence and ignorance that mental illness is surrounded by in everyday interactions within society. Indeed, although I try to be very open about my own experiences, I too am guilty of this— art’s bright colors are a way to distract me from the darkness of my own demons.