DUALITY

When exploring themes to focus on during this project I picked up on many instances of duality within the themes I chose.

Dualities are opposites, that can often be symbiotic or harmonious to one another.

For example -

RIGHT / WRONG - HAPPY / SAD - HIGH / LOW - JOY / AGONY

In my personal experience with mental health one often doesn't exist without the other. For example, I believe Depression can only really be felt when you have experienced true Elation. Without these extremes of mood and mental state you are simply floating somewhere in the middle, perhaps not ever experiencing true joy, or true agony. You have good days and bad days or sometimes a month of each. I found this duality really interesting and decided to focus on this in my project, perhaps creating a piece of work that reflects both.

Duality meaning from Cambridge Dictionary -

the state of combining two different things:

"His poems reveal the duality of his nature, the joy and hope, the fear and despair."

NO RAIN...

When exploring the theme of duality, particularly that of Agony & Joy, I had this saying stuck in my head.

'NO RAIN, NO FLOWERS' -

Rain = misery, sadness, gloominess

Flowers = new beginnings, sunshine, happiness

To me personally this particular phrase represents beautifully the notion that without bad things happening to you, good things won't - or the idea that no true joy (flowers) can be felt without pain and sadness (rain)

I sketched the phrase on my iPad using a somber monochromatic pallete and chalk pen, which should be sad, but the calligraphy itself is the beauty of the work.

HEALING

Exploring the idea of Healing.

In my personal mental health journey, recovery was something I couldn't actually forsee. When in the midst of a mental health crisis it does feel as though it will never end and you will never RECOVER.

This of course, isn't true. When I did eventually recover and heal, I felt true joy and elation that I don't think I've ever felt. There is something so beautiful about waking up and being happy after feeling sad for so long. You see everything differently, through rose-tinted glasses even. There is a mania that comes with this new found happiness, you find yourself wanting to do everything and anything you can to chase that feeling.

I planned to explore healing in different ways -

MEDICALLY

SPIRITUALLY

EMOTIONALLY

FINANCIALLY