Artist Statement:
In the last five years I have been struck by the great number of people, from family, to co-workers, to students in my life that contend with anxiety. I wanted to seek to understand this more clearly and hope to share that with others through this work.
Anxiety exists in the landscape of the mind, sometimes remaining concealed and at other times manifesting outwardly through physical reaction. I’ve witnessed a friend’s anxiety attack that completely and rigorously immobilized his body. I’ve seen other manifestations from depression to near explosions of panic.
Each image in this body of work is a person in my life that grapples with anxiety. I asked each of them to describe a simple shape that represents what they present to others or how they think others see them when they are suppressing feelings of anxiety. Then I gave each one a marker and had them draw and describe a mark or a line that they felt represented the anxiety that they felt on a daily basis. I then animated this line
Artwork:
An exploration and visualization of hidden anxiety. The work features portraits of people who suffer from anxiety. Animated lines drawn by the subject to express their feelings of anxiety are suppressed below the outward presentation of themselves, hidden until viewed through augmented reality.
(The work should be viewed through the Artivive App available on the App Store and Google Play.)
