“During the transition of coming back to school (in-person), I felt I lost my sense of balance which set me and my plants to wilt and burn a bit. Something that helped me bring back hope for the future was speaking affirmative words and phrases before leaving home and starting anything new.”
My painting “Recovering” is about my anchor. Last year after coming back to school and getting involved with several school activities, I had some problems with mental health- overthinking stuff, getting pressured, not maging my time wisely- so I had to find a way to go back and make an anchor. As I was working on this art piece, I thought about what my anchor is and how I use it. Since I thought that I needed to focus and concentrate on my studying and academics, I chose studying as my anchor and started using my schoolwork to help me refocus and give myself a sense of accomplishment.
With this piece, my goal was to show a runner escaping a cluster of chaotic things. Running has been my “anchor” over the past few months, so I decided to have the person running away from the sort of nonsensical, disorganized madness that, without an anchor, can really leave people detached from what matters. I painted the runner fairly small because it allowed the overwhelmingness of all of the stuff behind it to show through, while also setting them in front of the objects to give the idea of an escape. I also used night and day to represent the more chaotic aspects of the right side of the painting and the calm of the left.
I have a friend who is always upbeat and radiates positivity; she is a person who makes everyone around her feel good. She not only supports and consoles me but also those friends around her when they are unhappy; in my eyes, she is a mental health hero who will always be there to encourage and listening to everyone. But one day I recognized that my friend, the sweet girl who was always smiling and happy, was not as strong and positive as she appeared to me and other friends. I eventually realized that her wonderful attributes and cheery demeanor were all masks she had made to disguise the darkness inside of her. My friend is currently suffering from depression and is undergoing psychological treatment. Now, her condition has improved, and she is beginning to open up more in sharing her struggles with friends and me.
“My idea focuses on an advantage of returning to school- the ability to connect with friends, and the support and relief friends can provide.”
“Persolly, music is really helpful for me at school and other places because it has the power lighten my mood and condition.”
“I chose to show my gratitude towards rain. Rain for many people including myself, is a very special thing, especially living in Southern California.”
“I wanted to share how being around ture is a great comfort to me. I think it’s important to recognize the importance of appreciating ture, as well as taking care of it.”
“I hope when people see my art piece, they can think ‘Oh, I just need to reach out’ for mental health help.”
“You’re not alone; if you turn around to look in all directions you’ll see that there are people like you who feel isolated and sad.”