Mental health issues on display through art
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This article was published 20/10/2018 (2006 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
A Steinbach artist is using her art to portray what her and others go through and live with when they deal with an inability to fall asleep.
Artist Mandy Giesbrecht said that for about the last five years she has dealt with insomnia, which often leads to her only getting between four and five hours of sleep every night.
She said her insomnia has been “devastating” as it affects her physically, cognitively and emotionally, and leads to issues such as depression and a struggle to perform everyday tasks.
Giesbrecht now has four pieces of art hanging at the Steinbach Arts Council as part of their 15th annual Expressions Show, which asks artists to create pieces that represent their own struggles with various mental health issues.
Giesbrecht said that for her, art is a way to make something positive out of something negative.
“Because insomnia can feel like it is taking control of your life, it was important for me to use my art to express my experiences,” Giesbrecht said.
“I wanted to let those feelings have an opportunity to speak. Those feelings are for the most part negative, and I like to turn those negatives into positives and hopefully find some beauty in it all.”
Giesbrecht said her four pieces hanging at SAC represent both negatives and positives that she deals with including negatives like feelings of exhaustion and depression, but also positives like feelings of hope and optimism.
She added that for her, art can be therapeutic.
“What I can control is how I choose to cope and how I chose to recover using art as a tool,” Giesbrecht said.
She also said she has a message for others that may be dealing with mental health issues and struggles.
“Mental illness is not a choice or a character flaw,” Giesbrecht said. “Stigma exists as a negative stereotype of people who are actually heroes and heroines because they battle every day to be productive and live life despite the conflict.”
The Expressions Art Show continues until Oct. 29.