Psychiatric disorders are usually portrayed to the world through artwork thus are usually linked. Artists that are accomplished but with psychiatric issues explicit themselves and their emotional misery through their works and artwork therapists use the visual arts to help customers apprehend their issues and cope with them. There have been some psychiatric patients without a preceding artwork training who produced artwork that many people relate them as museum-worthy. Possibly it isn’t that easy to understand why artists frequently display empathy which the society may understand as a mental disorder but truth be told, there is a relationship of art and mental disorders as portrayed by most of their works and sculptures. The concept of doing things out of the norm by yourself to peer things afresh is probably as vintage when compared with the torch lit visions of cave artists. This has been expressed by the historic Greek logician Plato whose poetic ecstasy is the best supply of divine reality. Plato defines madness as a gift from the gods.
Chapter 2: Introduction
a. Background of the study
This research paper looks at the relationship between mental health and the works of an artist. Memory, life experiences and images have been used in this paper to understand how an artists’ mind operates and whether psychiatric disorders cause this creativity. Joanne Gibbons rules out the theory that creativity of an artist is often a sign of madness.
Reference is also made to Plato, a Greek historian who argues that madness is a gift from the heavens. In this piece of research, I wish to explore the boundaries and relationships between contemporary art and issues of mental health. In today’s society, the complete shift in attitudes towards mental health has made it easier for people to talk about their illness and even produce works of art, putting their illness on display for the whole world to see and speculate on. The definition of mental health and a person’s state of mind is continuously expanding and changing with the more knowledge humanity acquires about the human psyche and due to that the “services for individuals with mental health needs, since colonial times” (Ambrosino et al, 2012) are also continuing to evolve in various ways.
b. Definition of mental health
In today’s society, “Mental health is defined as a state of wellbeing in which every individual realizes his or her own potential, can cope with the normal stresses of life, can work productively and fruitfully, and is able to make a contribution to his or her community” (World Health Organization, 2014). Definitions of mental illnesses have changed over the last half a century. Mental illness refers to conditions that affect cognition, emotion and behavior. (Manderschied et al, 2009)
However, mental illness just became accepted in the society of late as it used to be related to criminals and sickness. Mental illness has only recently become a “diagnosis- focused to a person- focused definition of mental illnesses, and for an absence of disease model to one that stresses positive psychological function for mental health” (Manderscheid et al, 2009)
According to Michael Foucault in the 19th century, there was a change in political and scientific understanding of mental illness. During the 19th century, historians and psychiatrists damned confinement. The era of positivism has gone on to free the mad from being associated with criminals.
The fundamental change according to the way mental health was viewed and romanticized as artwork permits us to locate ourselves while losing ourselves at the same time and in the account of that this essays purpose is to discover the “loss” of oneself even as affected by a mental infection and to analyze works and the artist themselves.
c. Individual factors
Individual factors that have contributed to some of the works of these artists include feeling unloved. Sarah Lucas for one, felt that she did not get enough love when she was just beginning her career and as such it contributed to her work being controversial by using pieces such as cigarettes, spiders and vulgar words. She also had an unfaithful father which started depression in her life. These factors are important as they determine how an artists’ work will be. Edward Vunch also experienced ill health and this made him use this experience in his works. It expanded his thoughts and questions for humanity such as mortality and human vulnerability.
d. Aim of the study
Throughout the history of art there have been many artists; unsung and celebrated alike, that have suffered from many different types of mental illness and because of this I am trying to observe and explore the already existing relationship between a creative person’s state of mind and the work they have created regarding their illness. Another aspect of this area I would like to explore is how the mind of a mentally disabled person differs in the creative process in comparison to a normal person and the difference in how the mentally disabled recalls an experience to inspire the creative process against a normal person’s ability to remember. Mental Illness itself has changed due to societies view and perception of it.
e. Reason for choosing
In this piece of research, I wish to explore the boundaries and relationships between contemporary art and issues of mental health. In today’s society the complete shift in attitudes towards mental health have made it easier for people to talk about their illness and even produce works of art, putting their illness on display for the whole world to see and speculate on. The definition of mental health and a person’s state of mind is continuously expanding and changing with the more knowledge humanity acquires about the human psyche and due to that the “services for individuals with mental health needs, since colonial times” (Ambrosino et al, 2012) are also continuing to evolve in various ways.
Chapter 3: Literature Review
It is vital to establish that most of the artistic pieces have some touch of madness and this madness is what makes them great. The central idea that revolves around all these contemporary artists is the mental disorders that are revealed in their work. Some of them like Edvard Munch have been open about their lives through their work. Edward Munch was diagnosed with a mental disorder that was bipolar with psychosis. The artist wrote this in his diary where he included hallucinations that were auditory and his struggle with alcoholism. An example of his work and most famous is The Scream. In one of the instances he says that he was walking with two of his friends when the sun set and the sky above turned red as blood. His mind and heart is then filled with sorrow and he stands there still, leaning towards the railing completely tired. Just above the city blood dripped down as his friends kept walking further and he stood there frightened. It was then that an ear piercing scream tore through nature. (Psychology Today, 2018)
The concept that mental health has been customary in art through a long time isn't a brand new idea and is strongly glaring in many artists’ paintings on this phase I would really like to illustrate examples of this. One artist who springs to mind is Frida Kahlo. In harmony with the countrywide alliance on intellectual illness: “Kahlo became recognized with melancholy, however skilled predominant depressive episodes and suicide attempts at some stage in her lifetime. Her obvious dissociation and identity problems lead many researchers and historians to agree with that Kahlo suffered from an array of intellectual illnesses—from put up-traumatic pressure disease to bipolar disease to dissociative identity disorder.”Kahlo’s twist of fate ended up transforming her life. She became impotent due to the ironclad that cut her uterus which turned into one of her most mentally and emotionally devouring agonies. All her three pregnancies were stopped and this caused a heartache and grief to the artist. However, her despair was also initiated by her troubled marriage. This is entire heartedly stimulated numbers of her works.
Sarah Lucas controversial and vulgar in her own work, makes us doubt a perception of psychotic disorder. In one of the interviews she gladly says that she makes penises because she simply doesn’t have one. Her fetishism and definition of beauty in another level makes her work stand out as one of a kind. Figuratively, this does not make her look like a mentally challenged person but someone who has more passion and love for her work to express herself. She goes into depression and the reason behind this is because of a bad dream that she had of her sculpture getting lost in fire in Momart. These hallucinations are no different from Edvard Munch who experiences the same kind of mental problems. (Higgins, 2018)
Another contemporary artist whose work correlates with mental health ideology is Louise Bourgeois, who changed into a sensible old chook, and he or she had dirty thoughts, as her work tested time and again, on the grounds that she started in the Nineteen Thirties. She had strong evaluations and changed into as much as possible to form her views from the maximum laughable self-assist books from the tremendous literature. In her long lifestyles, she met pretty much each artist really worth citing. Simply earlier than Bourgeois’ retrospective at Tate present day, two bins of discarded writings that confer with her analysis, which she underwent four instances a week, were got in her home at Chelsea. After her demise in 2010 (aged 98), her assistant unearthed extra. Some selections have been put in exhibit inside the Freud museum along with two dozen of her perverse patchwork and protruding sculptures and installations. These writings, on letterheads, casual pads, even gambling playing cards, provide a glimpse into Bourgeois’ mental state. In line with these notes, Lowenfeld took into consideration the artist's inability to simply accept her aggression as the principal trouble to be worked through evaluation. She wrote in her work that instead of channeling her aggression and guilt to important things she used it on herself. (Searle, 2018)
Chapter 4: Methodology
The mode of research used in this paper is literature based. I used the artistic works presented by these contemporary artists to understand the relationship between mental health and art. I used the deductive approach method to sideline the belief that art is influenced fully with psychiatric disorders. When art and mental health are combined, the more interesting the work becomes. According to Joanne Gibbons’ work, memory is a very essential factor that shapes our lives in future and thought. In his work we get to understand how contemporary art shapes our memories. In his work, Francis Yates, a historian, describes memory skills as liberal arts.
The theory that scientists believe that most of these artists work are mentally infused will be ruled out according to this book. Joanne Gibbons work argues that the images formed by an artist is not the real thing but rather simple creativity. Another essential understanding drawn from this journal is that memory can also be a form of imagination. This implies that the artists can be making images and sculptures based not on what they are thinking but out of mere imagination. Experience and memory started being related in the 17th
century and this can be seen in artists like Louise Bourgeois whose life experiences relate to their work. (Google Books, 2018)
Chapter 5: Analysis
Analyzing the works of Bourgeois, Tracey Emin, and Sarah Lucas, portray pure art that is filled with creativity, defined by crazy words but unique in a beautiful way. The main theme, art, comes out despite the assumed correlation of art with mental health. These artists shape their psychotic disorder in an evocative way to show how mental illness and art relate. The main themes that are brought out are art and freedom among others like love.
ART
The different creative styles from these artists like Bourgeois’ “hankie punkie” artistic works that reveal her struggles during her childhood show art as the main theme that drives these artists. These artistic works, stories, and sculptures are simply art driven and built on pure creativity infused with mental disorders that they are experiencing. These artists express their work in different but creative ways that is pure reflection of art. (The Art Story, 2018)
FREEDOM
This theme unwraps the mental disorders that these artists are facing at some point in their lives. An artists’ struggle through their lives and being able to make it through the night, metaphorically, grants them a way through which they can speak to the world. These artists who have shown signs of mental disorders like Bernard Buffet and Mark Rothko whose artwork portrays depression use their freedom to write to become outstanding.
Chapter 6: Discussion
Edvard Munch is an artist who was thinking beyond what is normal. Human mortality, illnesses and sexual liberation are what he talked about in his art. His kind of thoughts do not justify to make him mentally challenged but one who aspires more from what is available. It is important to note that he had a troubled childhood just like Louise Bourgeois that make his works be associated with themes of emotional pain, anxiety and vulnerability. This relates to Joanne Gibbons’ work of contemporary art. Edvard uses his life experiences in his art to express himself.
Frida Kahlo, has had experiences that made her suicidal as discussed above. The use of a life story to come up with art shows the creativity and love that an artist has for their work. Her message through her art does not make her mentally challenged but enables us to understand deeply how memory and experience are related. She uses memory and experience to shape her art.
Sarah Lucas who uses deeper words in her art and sculpture shows some level of mental disorder. The idea of making penises because you are a woman can be attributed by desire but scientists would see it in another way. This artist, in particular, helps us see the relationship between mental health and art. However, her dimension of art is much more appealing to the world as creativity than it is a psychotic disorder. From all the sources read about these contemporary artists, it is common to understand that they have had rough childhood experiences which they have used in their art. Mental health comes in as time passes when they have progressed and all they have are memories. These awful memories that they use to display their art is what people see as mental illness. The general notion from my research is that a person’s mental health will not determine their art but will simply influence it.
Individual difference between the artist and their work
Even though Tracey Emin’s work depicts pleasure in intimacy, the artist had been sexually assaulted and raped when she was just an adolescent. Additionally, Tracy Emin has also had a successful abortion during her youthful years before she came up with a piece of art to pass this message. However, in her work, she does not praise such acts and this brings the difference between her works and struggles. It shows how she values and understands art as a mode of communication to the world.
Louise Bourgeois’ challenges, however, matches with what her art speaks to the world. Her work which the audience interprets as seductive and personal. Bourgeois work is inspired by the life experiences of this artist. She changed this experience by using mythological and stereotypical imagery, embracing objects like medical tools, spiders, and extremity to epitomize the feminine beauty, true being and mental pain. This artwork relates to her childhood when she lived through traumatic days caused by her father’s unfaithfulness who preferred a son to a daughter. (Mediation.centrepompidou.fr, 2018)
Attitudes towards mental health (Tracey Emin, Bourgeois)
Tracey Emin childhood struggles combine with her mental but artistic nature that can be judged by some as mental issues. Louise Bourgeois argues that art proves complete sanity of an artist. In some of her works, she says that art guarantees sanity of the person behind it. This arty-crafty skill is what makes scientists judge these works as challenges of mental illness. Bourgeois’ aesthetic love for beauty through her work shows her love and appraisal for art. Her figurative art shows her attitude towards mental health being related to an artist’s work as tough.
Opposing Arguments
The opposing side of the argument is not that big as most artists portray the same theme which is art. However, there is an argument concerning Tracey Emin and Bourgeois. Bourgeois strongly defends art as a form of sanity whereas Tracy Emin’s life experiences in her art cannot hide the mental issues in her life. This contradicts Bourgeois’ phrase especially as she had a life experience like that and not just another creative story of these artists.
Conclusion
In conclusion, mental health has shown a relationship to most of the works of contemporary artists. These messages and stories written by these artists are built on thoughts and ideas which are influenced by their mental health. However, these actions that are way different turns out to be a form of art especially with the evolution of art over time. Life experiences that make this artist show their mental disorders through their works show a relationship with mental health and art works of artists. Art has therefore defined life in the current society as the general shift in attitudes towards mental issues has made it easier for individuals to speak about their illness and even produce works of art, putting their illness on display for the whole universe to watch and speculate on. Importantly, it should be understood that one person’s imagination should be accepted and not judged since we all have minds that work differently. In other words, a person’s creativity level will not be the same as the rest of the people. All these artists have had experiences that they have used in their work. Extremism in work like Sarah Lucas shows the level of pain in which she passed through to be able to make it. It does not make us judge her as mentally challenged but shows that sanity in artist cannot be guaranteed. There is no link between mental health and art but the two have a relationship basing on Joanne Gibbons work of contemporary art and memory.
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