More Than A Moment Series
More Than A Moment is the final series of my Capstone project, utilizing public art as a form of design activism to address the stigma and dehumanization surrounding mental health identity. Key barriers in research surrounding the topic highlight the impacts of stigma in society and the dehumanization of the complexities within the human experience. In a society prioritizing the classification of mental health, we have created a culture of isolation and medication, evolving into a society where mental health labels become a lifelong identity and redact the human from the journey.
Utilizing visual semiotics to show the impact of symbolic expression to facilitate community, foster dialogue, and express complex emotions. The final exhibition series showcases five 15×15 coloured-pencil illustrations that depict figurative representations of identity, conflicts within the self, and shared experience, providing a journey balancing internalized conflict with nostalgic memory, encompassing the scope of a holistic mental health journey. Each frame is paired with a quote, sourced from the project’s research participants, that reflects on feelings and moments of decline within the human experience, connecting experiences of decline as only a fragment to the whole. Our journeys are ever evolving, and identity is more than a moment.
In this moment,
“How did I go from feeling like a star,
to feeling like nothing.”
Artist Statement
Reflecting on the emotions of carefree, childlike joy, connecting the pain of detaching from this feeling. Resonating the bittersweet nature of nostalgia towards a moment that has faded out of reach.
In this moment,
“There’s this feeling like mud,
I can’t move or do anything I enjoy.”
Artist Statement
Exploring the Psychosomatic experience of mental decline, creating physical impacts on the body’s well-being. Psychosomatic symptoms are the body’s real physical impacts felt from prolonged stress, depression, anxiety, etc., that can result in muscle tension, extreme chest pain, headaches, fatigue, and the physical feeling of a pressure weighing down the body.
In this moment,
“When I tried to sleep at night,
there was no sounds, just me.
I worry about what’s to come
the next day.”
Artist Statement
The moment of isolation and insomnia. Questioning the battle of exhaustion and the fear of what you might face when you close your eyes. The moment in the dark, engulfing you. Over time, it becomes harder to remember what it was like to feel safe, protected, and rested.
In this moment,
“A part of me has been crumpled up,
and thrown away.
I don’t feel like myself.”
Artist Statement
Growing up, we learn to put on a brave face. This moment represents the exhaustion and fragmentation that develop from emotional repression. Depicting the fragmentation and exhaustion from putting on masks for others to see. It becomes harder to remember who you are. The challenge is not how you should feel, but rather what it means to feel and express for yourself.
“Each moment is a piece of me,
but one will not label me.
I am safe and seen.
I am,
More Than A Moment.”
Artist Statement
The representation of the full picture. The mental health journey is the culmination of the raw and real. It’s every journey depicted, and every emotion experienced. Accepting the good and the bad is what shapes your identity.
Past the series, at the start of each user's interaction with the exhibit, they receive the postcard bundle, which includes five 5x7 postcard collaterals for each piece, handed out during the exhibition with the quote and image pairings on the front.
Each image is included in a 5x5 frame, allowing the user to use the standard square frame dimension to take each miniature piece to exhibit and frame in their home afterwards. Prints allow for shareability or for users to apply their own combination to the five-frame order.
On the reverse side, the quote is repeated, followed by the artist's statement on each piece's importance in the series. The description allows space to further address mental health topics, educate on moments and feelings of decline, and humanize the stigma surrounding them.
Each card ends with the capstone summary, offering a research-based, academically focused conversation on the importance of mental health conversations. Highlighting the holistic approach to mental health as a journey, and that identity is More Than a Moment.
Showcasing a sample of the development process over the 6-week illustration period for the final pieces. Each piece is hand-illustrated in coloured pencils on stonehenge paper, cut to a 20x20-inch sheet with a 15x15-inch frame border.
Once final imagery and quotes were selected, an estimated 30-35 hours per piece was mapped out to outline, prep, and finalize each piece within the 6-week timeline.