ADHD

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

“ADHD is one of two surviving pieces from a series documenting my ADHD. As with much of my work, this piece is an exploration of the Self, focusing on neurodivergence and identity. This style of painting is about processing my busy thoughts and feelings – externalising the tangled mess of my interior world in order to declutter my mind. I like to think of the resulting artworks as a testament to whatever I was processing at the time, crystallised on canvas. They’re snapshots of my brain, really!” 

“In this instance, I was incredibly early on into my career as a working artist and learning how to manage myself as a self-employed creative/boss/employee. I had gone off ADHD medication two months prior and was instead figuring out how to work WITH my own variable rhythms."

“These were intuitive works, so I didn’t plan anything - like the colours or symbols used - in advance, and instead let everything flow out naturally. I love how they’ve ended up, because I feel it speaks to the two sides of my own ADHD. I have combined ADHD, meaning I display both hyperactive (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, ADHD is the sparser, stiller of the two, with more restrained scribbles and fewer images. It has a softer, quieter, more daydream-y, withdrawn quality to it. I’ve always been inspired by the work of Jean-Michel Basquiat, and I can see his influence here clearly." 

This artwork is currently exhibiting as part of Blue Hour Studios and Verity Wooley's 'LOOK IF YOU WANT' show, held at The Pelican Peckham in London (May 2024).