Canvas Painting
Collage on Canvas
23.5 x 19.5 inches
This piece addresses the stigma involved in suffering from a mental illness such as
depression. All those words thrown at sufferers which repeat in the sufferers mind. The
feeling of being broken, like all the negative phrases & words will spill out of a
unquiet mind finally unable to contain them.
The person who suffers is not weak or a fool or any of those things he believes or is told
he is. He is a hero because despite all this he prevails, he survives. I chose a male for
the sufferer instead of woman because the pressure on men to be strong & unaffected by
emotion is by far the greatest. Within certain communities for a man to admit depression
is not only to open one up to ridicule but can even open one up to disaster. To suffer
alone desperate not to let on can lead to alcoholism, drug addiction, crime, violence
& suicide. Suicide is more common among young men then any other population group.
I was honoured to have this piece included in the 'like minds' exhibition in 2002. This annual event in Taranaki NZ is run by Like Minds New Zealand a government organisation committed to working with and educating the public about mental illness.
