This piece was inspired by a light show at a concert I saw in Los Angeles. The 20Th Anniversary of Anticon, a reunion to celebrate the life of Alias, Brandon Whitney. Here is a picture I snagged at the show and you can see the following shapes are close to the same on the watercolor painting (Below).

The shapes in the light inspired me to do a piece about mental illness. Often times looking inward to try and pick the pieces up from a tragic experience in ones life, can feel daunting and hopeless.  There is a giant stigma surrounding mental health, and its time to erase that. Its ok to be or to have a mental illness.

As I myself suffer from depression and anxiety I find that I reach for a story any chance I can, I reach to connect the broken pieces, searching for some type of meaning, looking for some kind of explanation on why its all happening to me? (its also why my art is good ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ ) Often times in life its not about why? or the how come? Although some Mental Illness’s cloud logical thought processes and heightens emotions leaving the individual with self defeating practices leaving one to focus on whats not important. The slope is a slippery one and before you know it you can be consumed by the mud, and darkness. Where one is left being forced to drudge oneself out without any help or knowledge on how to get help.

Its important to realize that life is a constant progression, and to focus on the triggers that can cause the problem to inflate. That way you can catch yourself before you fall in to that dark state of mental illness. Please know if you struggle with a mental illness, you are not alone and you can get help and feel better about life and who you are. Its not anything to be ashamed of, see a therapist and get help. If you can’t do that, read a book about it and work towards the positive.

Broken, is the title of this piece. It’s done with watercolors, and inspired by light, music, and my own craziness.