5D

Original mixed media artwork. Acrylic, oil pastel, pen and pencil on canvas, 31cm x 31cm. 2023. Measures 34.3cm x 34.3cm in floater frame. Hanging hardware on reverse. Video here, via my Instagram. 

"5D was created in late September 2023, as part of a series focused on my ADHD. The companion piece is called ADHD. I was diagnosed with ADHD as an adult at age 25, in late 2022, and have spent the year and a half since coming to terms with this. I hoped initially that medication would be the answer to getting a ‘normal’ brain. It didn’t work for me and made me feel a lot worse. Regular creation, however, has made a significant difference and is arguably my medicine of choice."

"Playing with colours, shapes, textures and different materials gets me out of my head and gives me somewhere to ‘put’ the constant swirl of stuff going on inside my very busy brain. Seeing my jumbled thoughts and emotions become a vivid finished piece on canvas or paper has also helped me to make peace with my brain and see the beauty in it. Together the two pieces speak to the two sides of my ADHD. I have combined ADHD, meaning I display both hyperactive traits (such as bursts of energy and hyper-focus) and inattentive traits (short attention span, easily distracted…)"

"To me, the sunny yellow of 5D speaks to my hyperactivity, the ‘up’ parts of my ADHD, while the calm blue speaks to my inattentiveness - the ‘down’ part.  Visually, 5D is the busier, bubblier of the two, with more energetic scribbles and an abundance of symbols and signs. This is the expression of ADHD that most people would think of when they hear the word ‘ADHD’, however, both types are equally valid and equally part of who I am. I am heavily inspired by Jean-Michel Basquiat and can see his influence clearly here."

This artwork exhibited as part of the 'LOOK IF YOU WANT' show, put together by Blue Hour Studios and Verity Wooley and held at The Pelican Peckham in London (May 2024).