Issue 2 – Mental Illness, Health and Recovery Gallery – ASLI MAGAZINE

Art by Jade Bryant

Artist Jade Bryant – works in progress

Sravanthi Juluri

Artist Louise Tomkinson at the ASLI Pop-Up Exhibition

Art by MistressLisa Taylor

From our local pop up exhibition for mental health awareness ‘Manic battle with your Mind’ By Christopher Webb Oil on canvas

Writer and Poet Becky Saunders

Art By Maz Fietz It’s ok to be broken… There’s no shame in speaking out…

Portrait of Mark Lloyd – William Bazlinton Photography

Artist Louise Tomkinson’s daughter Hope, an aspiring young artist

Artist Jess Caudery

Hannah Hilton

Misstresslisa’s Artworks at ASLI’S event and pop up exhibition to raise awareness about mental illness in Portsmouth, UK

From our local pop up exhibition for mental health awareness ‘Manic battle with your Journey’ By Christopher Webb Oil on canvas

Dave Hubble Photography by Jani Frank

The Rose Garden – By Lisa Reeve

The Healing Body Image Project - Photography By Debra Lynn Hook

CITY OF PORTSMOUTH – By Christopher Webb INK & WATERCOLOUR

From our local pop up exhibition for mental health awareness ‘Manic battle with your Environment’ By Christopher Webb Oil on canvas

Catherine Williams

‘Protector’ – By Jade Bryant It essentially shows how both the BPD (left side) and the ASPD (right side) work in coexistence with each other, but that isn’t a bad thing. The ASPD often protects the BPD side when things get too overwhelming, which has brought me back from suicide various times, if i didn’t have that side to me, I really don’t think i’d be here. The arm wrapping around the BPD side shows protection. Though the eyes are different, the BPD has green and blue colours to represent the innocence of feelings to an extent and the most predominant emotions I struggle with in a BPD crises, which are depression, lonliness and helplessness followed by me realizing how I have acted and becoming overly emotional, the pupil of that eye is multicoloured to represent the spectrum of emotion. Whereas the other ASPD eye is red, and orange with striking yellow to signify the most dominant emotions and feelings i get from that side of me, which are confidence, boldness, sometimes coldness and distance, but independence and adaptability. The mouths are different also, on the BPD side to represent shock, and dissociation, a frozen sort of expression, wanting help but not knowing how to ask for it. Whereas the ASPD side is more of a devilish smile because it represents how it can often be sneaky, cunning and manipulative, but also lustful and playful and strong.

Artist Maz Fietz

The Index For Child Well-being – By John Ledger

‘Gaia Is Awake’, is based on a Shamanic Vision of the World around us being more alive than what we can currently perceive and understand. The living Universe.

I’m going to keep this short, as I still find it hard to deal with. It all still feels so surreal. But I want to help anyone going through any type of mental illness and break its taboo. On January 11 this year, my partner committed suicide. To everyone, he was nothing but caring, thoughtful and “happy”. He always tried to be happy, but life’s everyday challenges got a hold of him. Only his closest loved ones in his life had an idea of the pain he was trying to deal with, but still not enough to realize that it would bring him this close to the edge. “The Edge. There is no honest way to explain it because the only ones that really know where it is are the ones that have gone over.” The ONLY thing that got me out of bed was a surfboard (next to my bed) I was doing an art design on. I do art daily, it helps me think and not think at the same time. It’s my way of connecting with him and escaping from reality. I am so grateful to have the gift of art and I feel it’s my purpose to use my artworks to send out messages. I want people to realize that you don’t have to look depressed all the time, be a bad person or talk about wanting to put an end to their life to have a mental illness. We need to become more aware of this so we can help people escape their darkness and not let them feel lonely all the time! Because it only takes a split second, without anyone knowing, for their decision to be made. And yes, some may have regretted it, but it’s too late. It’s my goal one day to host a charitable art show to raise awareness and just spread my art into the world. If my art brings a smile to someone’s face or sends a message across and makes a change, then I’ve done my job.

I Want None of This – By John Ledger

BPD Awareness

“what gets me through the day” Art by Ethar Hamid

Lisa Reeve ASLI Artistic Projects & Campaign Director at the Mental Illness, health and recovery pop-up exhibition.

Artist Louise Tomkinson

Maryjayne Stone braved to do this a second time, in her determination to make peace with the humanness of her body. “I feel like I have a better handle than I ever have.” She is beautiful, we all agree.

The Healing Body Image Project

‘Quarter of 2‘ By Jana Charl 2014 30.5 x 23 x 5cm Mixed media (pigment on metallic paper, acrylic on canvas, and found objects) My artwork is a reflection of art therapy related to insomnia and specifically tied to PTSD. The title is extracted from lyrics in an early Tom Waits album “Goin’ Down Slow.”