Mirrored - Madelyn Sowle

Madelyn Sowle -

Throughout the IB Visual Arts course, my main focus was based on ideas of Mental Health while also studying different mediums and art styles like abstract and minimalism. By focusing on these ideas of mental health, I am able to symbolize the beauty beneath pain and suffering. Through my pieces I really wanted to make that connection with the viewers, help them understand the challenges and the hard times people go through while also giving them something to relate to. Each of my pieces depicts different ideas of emotions and mental health such as depression, anxiety, isolation, abuse, and growth. By engaging with these concepts, it has really helped me, as the artist, to take it all in and add my own personal emotions to these pieces in order to make it my own.

The mediums I’ve explored throughout the course are acrylic-paint and art markers. I have always really enjoyed working with paint and when I add acrylic into my mental health related pieces, I am able to add more emotion into it. By using texture or using different brushstrokes, I am able to convey the message behind the work more clearly. I only started working with art markers this past year but immediately loved the different thicknesses of the markers, the different shapes of chisels, the colors, the designs. By combining these mediums together I have been able portray my ideas and experiences on these ideas of mental health more clearly.

Some of my favorite pieces I have done are “Taken Over”, “Silence”, “Hidden”, and “Day by Day”. These pieces are my favorite because they all go hand in hand together. I start off by exploring the common themes of anxiety and the toll it takes on someone. I then move into ideas of Harassment and how anxiety can consume you, making you feel like you cant fight for yourself. I started to explore the theme of how although you may be happy on the outside, you can feel very miserable on the inside due to past trauma. Finally, we begin to explore the themes of growth in these pieces and how although awful things can happen to someone, they still have the courage to be better for themselves and others. The reason I like these pieces so much is because these 4 works all have helped me to reflect on my personal grieving process and how I have been able to get through these obstacles, knowing that many other people are the same way.

Under Water, 25.4cm x 50.8cm

I created this artwork to represent depression and how it can feel as though you are just drowning in emotions and sadness. I used acrylic paint on canvas and explored the idea of impressionism. There are multiple hands to represent how no one is going through what they are going through alone. The message I was trying to convey in this piece was this exact idea that so many people in the world experience depression and although it's so draining and difficult, no one is alone in this journey.

Taken Over, 20.32cm x 35.56cm

The two techniques I focused on in this piece were space and emphasis. I created this skull in order to represent ideas of anxiety and how it can feel like your mind is just completely out of your control. My emphasis is the skull and the space is everything around. The ghosts inside the head are there to symbolize how it feels to have your mind taken over by anxious thoughts.

Shh…, 25.4cm x 30.48cm

This piece I went out of my comfort zone and explored a very sensitive topic to me, sexual assault. I used digital art in order to represent the idea of demons being taken over when in a situation like this. I used aspects like pain in the eyes, key words, and ghosts/demons in order to perfectly portray how haunting going through something as severe as rape/sexual assault can be.

Hidden, 45.72cm x 81.28cm

In this piece I explored abstract minimalism while using inspiration from artist Agnes Martin. I used prima markers on mixed media paper in order to convey the idea that what you see on the outside isn't always what it's like on the inside. There is a girl depicted with scars and tears in order to highlight what she is going through but surrounding her are more happy things like flowers and the sun in order to convey what she is showing others, hiding how she really feels.

Where Prosperity Grows, 20.32cm x 30.48cm

To conclude my series on mental health, I wanted to use an abstract minimalism piece symbolizing growth. I used art markers and acrylic paint in order to show that although there are so many struggles that come with life, there's always time to give yourself the space to heal. The plants and flowers growing across this piece represent the idea of moving on and growing from past trauma. It can be a difficult process which is why there are multiple abstract pastel colors, but it can always be done