Project Statement
Unmade is a series of prints inspired by the investigation of coping mechanisms throughout my mental health journey. These images are derived from photographic references that documented the aftermath of my depressive episodes. Since adolescence, my bed has been a consistent means for an escape from my own thoughts and feelings and a fortress in which I surround myself to feel relief from everyday life. This series is a public confession of personal, vulnerable, and intimate moments that allow the viewer to identify with the work through shared experiences.
All these pieces are rendered from intaglio printmaking processes, including dry point, etchings, and aquatints. Intaglio lends itself to experimentation through a combination of careful and sporadic mark making which allows for a textural quality within the work. Adding to the sensorial textures within the line work, I utilize Unryu Kozo, a handmade Japanese paper which displays a harsh and distorted quality when dried, referencing the folds and wrinkles within the sheets that are scattered over the bed. This use of material and overall presentation alludes to the inevitable cleansing of not only overused, unclean bedding, but also the cleansing of the mind and body.
For me, creating this body of work is and continues to be a cathartic act while simultaneously facilitating a conversation of perseverance and hope through mental illness. By depicting the beds alone with no semblance of physical space, I invite the viewer into the mind of the depressed, where the world outside of self-isolation is detached and insignificant. Both the use of embroidery and color play a role in aiding the viewer through the process of healing, one being a literal act of construction while the other is indicative of evolving emotion. Ultimately, I view these works not only as a representation of a physical unmade bed, but what the bed has consistently represented throughout my life: a hauntingly beautiful way to overcome mental health struggles.