The painting is part of a series that explores mental health issues with the metaphor of a mask. Here it shows how a mental illness turns into physical damage. The red substance flowing out of her body are her organs. They are dissolving because the soul and the body are connected. The mind suffers and so on the blood pressure changes, heart and liver are failing, digestion and reproduction are slowing down. Because of that the skin is grayish and pale. The mask hides the depression. The person becomes numb and shows courage to the outside as the pain fades into darkness. The three stars symbolize that process, while their rings show the years of this ongoing torture. 

Masking Pain

The painting is part of a series that explores mental health issues with the metaphor of a mask. Here the mask manly shows one's anxiety. Therefore joy and hope are getting lost under this dark grey cover. To represent that the colors of the eye seem to glow. Moreover the skin is shimmering since it's wet from previous tears that have been wiped away to hide from others. The fear and panic resolve in the wish to be invisible as an individual. To let somebody else decide what one should wear and say and feel. It's an unnatural state that is also found in the colors of the mask. That is why some parts are lilac as an antithesis to nature. Like stone the shell one is hiding under is grey - static but solid. We also find the color red which tells the viewer the dangers of putting such things on. 

The Mask 

Secret views 

We see here a view above the clouds. It shows a euphoric and mesmerizing state of mind. That is not only held with ease but also great in its simplicity. Like the moment after a jump into risk and into an unknown place, ending with the realization that one can fly.

Above

The painting deals with one's life. Especially how we look back at periods that have passed. Which is like an scientific research of what we've lost, who we've lost and what we remember. This example delves deeper into childhood. There are not many things along the path to look back on. Since we cannot remember those years clearly. In Addition the orange fog has captured the earliest memories. The sun sets to provide a warm light and create a comforting atmosphere. The landscape itself is untouched by humans to show how naturally children behave. The work honors the escape of the mind to an ideal version of one's childhood. We can be mesmerized by all the beauty as we heal the pain from childhood that we only now recognize within ourselves. 

Minor Anthropology 

The work explores to concept of grief. This is represented by the willow. As the moment strikes like thunder our whole perception of the surroundings is being affected. Therefore the monochrome color scheme focuses on blue. With that the wave of sadness is pushing down. Because of that the clouds form a "u" shape as if the world would collapse. Everything is captured in that feeling. To convey this message there is a harmony of three paired figures. For one the souls who are watching from the sky. Second, the emotional bond represented by the whale and the sea bird. Third, the two black covered people witnessing the scene. They represent our physical existence. The animals also show the dynamic between the figures. While the whale was guiding through the ocean; the bird followed in the sky. Now the ocean is gone and therefore the sky will crush down. 

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Jenny Müller

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