In the syllabus, there are seven project themes that we were able to choose from. The seventh theme was “Open Proposal: Propose a project that will produce a sculptural object/objects or installation based on a previous work that you have completed.” When I saw that we could incorporate previous work I knew I wanted to do that. I had a metal cast of my torso that I had cast for a previous project for a different class, but I did not end up using it.
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I am a psychology major as well as a visual arts major and I have always been interested in mental illnesses. I also have first hand experience with living with and battling mental illnesses and I understand the shame and stigma that is associated with a diagnosis of an illness from the Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders.
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I wanted to make a sculpture that would help me explain what it is like for me and other sufferers to live with mental illnesses. Mental illnesses are invisible illnesses which means that a lot of people have a difficult time understanding all the pain (emotional, physical, or mental) that it causes.
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Often times, people who are affected by mental illness also have to deal with other people believing that they are just faking for attention or being dramatic.
People who have to live with mental illnesses learn that there is a stigma about mental illnesses and that it is better if they do whatever they can to make people think they are “normal.” It becomes a daily performance to hide their illnesses and not let anyone see the battle that they are fighting with themselves, fighting their “Inner Demons.” I wanted to make a sculptural representation of the “demon” inside trying to escape.
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Click for more artwork that inspired me and to hear more about the “inner demons”
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So I thought of hands coming out of the front of the torso and then fill the torso with something that relates to mental illness.
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Things to put in the torso
~ Empty pill bottles = pharmacotherapy
~ Razor blades = self-harm
~ Mini wine bottle = self-medicating & substance abuse
~ Hospital bracelet = hospitalization
~ Broken mirror = body dysmorphic disorder
~ Drama faces = bipolar disorder
~ Mini squirrel = ADHD
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But I thought all this stuff would be too much of a jumbled mess and my message would get lost. I needed something that could convey more than one illness without looking like a bunch of random items. I was just concerned how I was going to fill the torso. Then I thought about putting a fake bottom in and “filling the top” with pills. I would have a variety of different pills that are for different things so that covers more than one illness.
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