My submission for this initiative was an artwork under the Visual Arts category, tackling the theme of mental wellbeing and more precisely the inner world that is as complex as the outside, only invisible. The emphasis in this instance is on the psychological struggles that affect our daily lives greatly but that we supress and keep hidden due to fear of judgement or inadequacy, consequently leading to escalation of the problem. In order to facilitate the portrayal of the abstract nature of this problem I used symbols in the form of abstract shapes, colours and animals to support the narrative i’m trying to convey. My main goal with this work is to raise awareness to mental health and normalise the discussion surrounding it. 

 The title of my exhibition piece is “Overthinking” and is a depiction of the inner battle between different dark thoughts, competing for the position of the worst-case scenario while simultaneously destroying themselves and their host in the process. Many times in life, we are overcome with irrational self-destructive thought patterns, most of which are repetitive and take us down a spiral of a never ending sequence of distorted views of reality. These exaggerated thought patterns prey on our insecurities and slowly start taking form and almost an identity of their own. In the midst of muddled thoughts there are still some “golden nuggets” of wisdom coming through but these are often pushed out of our minds throughout the chaotic process. This piece reflects on the theme of inner psychic states that torment people, taken from my personal experience as a basis to explore some of the vague and abstract psychological concepts that become very personal and take onto specific forms the more you look into them.