I’m so tired of seeing people acting like it’s cute or funny to be depressed or have anxiety. It’s become a trend to be miserable. And while depression, anxiety, and other mental illnesses are not just real, but legitimate medical problems, this trendiness and way of thinking or just presenting ourselves is harmful to those partaking in such depreciating behavior and those suffering from these illnesses that are not partaking in this behavior. Yes, we need to be able to talk openly about mental illness. But no we do not need to be acting like it’s attractive in some way! I’m sick of the romanticized idea of mental illness and the frequency with which it’s used as a scapegoat for bad behavior. When are we going to start finding getting help and taking responsibility for ones own happiness trendy? Why do I see more posts about sleeping in and neglecting responsibilities conveyed in such apathy than I do about enthusiasm for ones little daily accomplishments? Mental illness is a real problem, and I’m not saying happiness is as simple as a switch you can just flip on, it may actually take a ton of work and be hard as hell, but the path to happiness does start with taking responsibility for your own life and your own happiness.
Leigh Whurr a.k.a. Oddly-Spliced is a digital artist from Birmingham, UK.
Describing or explaining my work is rarely simple since the very appeal of this type of imagery lies in how it may touch a place that words or logic cannot immediately reach.
There is logic to be found, but it is spliced with my own subjective reality. It is an instinctual drive and so any statement about my work usually requires some degree of philosophical leverage, as well as a certain amount of self-analysis.
Painting digitally seems like a natural extension of a contemporary approach, although I do not feel this should impinge on the content of the work itself in terms of how it should be received. It is, to me, simply a more efficient and enjoyable way of producing art.
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I am an oil painter based out of the San Francisco Bay Area. My ambition is to try and capture the fleeting moments in life using this medium as an opportunity to see the world with a more interesting and colorful perspective. To
stay present and aware by seeing the extraordinary in the mundane,
challenging the insignificant versus the significant, and at the end of
the day creating a deeper connection with the world around me.
Adipocere is an Austrailian artist who creates hand embroidery illustrations almost exclusively on natural linen. He developed an interest in embroidery as art in 2014 after he cross-stitched an homage to the film Alien. From there he has created his own visuals inspired by a fascination with the macabre, combining themes of innocence with an unsettling and sinister melancholy, referring to many of his works as “emotional self-portraiture”. For more check out his Facebook.
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