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Mental Health and Art: Artistic Expression II

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Louis Wain is an English illustrator who is highly interested in anthropomorphic cats. In the beginning, he was illustrating to make her wife laugh. Unfortunately, he lost his wife to cancer at a very early age and in time he was diagnosed with schizophrenia. This mental illness has deeply altered his personality, thus his artistic style as well. He started painting psychedelic cats which were much more expressive than the earlier ones. Edward Honaker a 21-year-old photographer who is suffering from chronic depression and anxiety said "Your mind is who you are when it does not work properly, it is scary." This sentence can be very much interconnected with Wain's shifting style. As one experiences a traumatic incident, his or her perspective on life can also change dramatically.  Mental illness is not something tangible. You can not see if the person in front of you is in pain or suffering, yet again Honaker states, "Just because it cannot be seen, does not mean damag

Mental Health and Art: Artistic Expression I

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As I look at my works cumulatively, I come to the conclusion that my main concern is to represent varying mental illnesses such as anxiety, claustrophobia, or bipolar disorder. I am really into psychology and expression, and the synthesis of the two since I am also suffering from severe anxiety for a very long time. Therefore, it is quite a personal issue as well.  Mental illnesses have been represented many times throughout art history. For instance, Northern Renaissance artists often depicted mental illness through the lens of spiritual experience and symbolism. An example of this kind of representation can be Matthias Grunewald's "The Temptation of Saint Anthony". He uses religious allegories, such as demons to convey a certain psychological state.  Matthias Grunewald, The Temptation of Saint Anthony, 1510-1515 Another significant example can be the Romantic Age. In this era, extreme states of mind were romanticized and a solid example can be Francisco Goya. In one of