Digital Printmaking Spring 2017

The “Visions of a Different Mind” series explores the DSM (Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders), visualizing a few of the lesser known disorders that can plague the human brain. Setting aside traditional drawing techniques, and instead focusing on subject matter and presentation, this series touches on eight uncommon mental disorders that have been heavily stigmatized in today’s society. Ranging from a simple confusion of synapses to detrimental personality disorders, this series aims to bring to light the struggles that patients go through in their day to day lives. The substrates that these pieces are printed on have been chosen carefully to coincide with the subject matter. The skin that “Anorexia” is printed on represents the skin that those suffering from it wish they could replace. The mirror that “Narcissism” is printed on literally reflects what matters most to those that are diagnosed; Themselves. The multiple transparent sheets that “Dissociative Identity Disorder” is printed on represent the multiple layers that a sufferer has, ones that cannot always be controlled. The pieces are meant to be more than just looked at, they are meant to be thought about. Using a somewhat abstract style, this series truly tries to represent the horrors of some of these mental disorders. The aim is not just show, but to shed some light on these disorders and show that those affected are more than their diagnosis. These people are still people, only plagued with a chemical imbalance or misfiring synapses that cannot always be cured.