Distortion of Positivity

For this project I want to convey the message of how school can negatively affect a student's mental health mainly because I feel like this topic doesn’t receive the recognition . I wanted to do it in such a way that it sort of takes a moment to fully understand the meaning behind my piece. Students often hold themselves to a standard that is one, extremely unrealistic, and two, harmful to their self esteem and self worth. Other major effects negativity can bring is stress, depression, anxiety, and that's just a small portion of what students have to deal with on a daily basis. Throughout the collage I tried to keep the color palette really neutral, a lot of the people I asked described their feelings as blank or white, with occasional people describing their feelings to me as dark blue or grey. The one thing I think really brings the piece together is the period absentee slips and classroom connectiones text, It helps identify the theme of the piece and it ties everything together. Another thing that really strikes a feeling of loneliness and lost feeling is the water image and the space image I added. A couple of students explained to me that they feel like they are lost in space with no oxygen and a feeling of being extremely suffocated. Other students described it to me as if they were almost drowning in some sort of ocean or lake filled with assignments and projects. I feel like this medium of art was the best way to portray the feelings of the students because I feel like a student's mind can be a collage of thoughts and ideas.

I really love the medium of collage, especially analog collaging. I draw lots of inspiration from dada art, a form of art that combines different materials and images which you then layer and repurpose them to convey the message you want to convey. I specifically draw inspiration from dada art because I love the cryptic, mysterious feel that it emits. Its scattered yet refined features remind me of a scattered brain student preparing for a stressful test. Dada art’s connection to mental health represents the outlandish and odd feelings and thoughs we can undergo and have while being stressed and anxious. Dada art is such a wonderful style of art and a really amazing way to express your creativity and emotions. I’m really glad and extremely thankful that I get to convey my message this way.