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Christina Heurig
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Mental illness is a topic I strongly relate to. I suffer from strong anxiety attacks, and five years ago, I had to struggle with strong depression. The depression was partly caused by external causes like a broken heart, traumatic family issues and a very unsafe living situation - but also my family has a long history of genetically being wired to feel depression, light to severe cases. My photography explores mainly the emotional and spiritual realm evolving from those sufferings. I use mediums like glas plates, magnifying glases, shadows and other distorting objects to show a reality that is distortet itself. My main goal is to engage the viewers in how it FEELS to be mentally ill and cause some empathy among this still existing TABU in society.
Instagram:
"The scream". (personal cartharsis, from the series "78 hours"). Sometimes, at 4.am in the night, the pain comes out. Mental illness most often means as well a huge amount of feeling pain. The same areas in the brain, that are stimulated while feeling physical pain through the nerve system, are activated and let the victim feel this strong amount of pressure. And so - we scream. Shot through a magnifying glas.
"The ache". (personal cartharsis, from the series "78 hours"). Sometimes, at 4.am in the night, the pain comes out. Mental illness most often means as well a huge amount of feeling pain. The same areas in the brain, that are stimulated while feeling physical pain through the nerve system, are activated and let the victim feel this strong amount of pressure. And so - we scream. Shot through a magnifying glas.
"Midnight changed everything, selfportrait". A combined photography showing what happens in the intimate time of night: I become my true self, like a werewolf evolving into the mentally ill person I am. I can roam free in my world of thoughts, cry and be sad... while at day I have to function somehow to disguise how I feel inside truly. Materials used: cotton, a dead squirrel and some moon shaped shades.
"redemption" (personal cartharsis, from the series "inside insight"). Mental illness most often means as well a huge amount of feeling pain. The same areas in the brain, that are stimulated while feeling physical pain through the nerve system, are activated and let the victim feel this strong amount of pressure. And so - we scream. Shot through a magnifying glas.
"the shock" (personal cartharsis, from the series "inside insight"). Experiments with a glass bowl to reveal psychological layers. Electrical shocks were used in the early stage of medicine to heal mental illness (the reflection through the glass bowl symbolizes it). Also, brain waves consist of electronic waves - that are causing the "disfunction" of the brainwork - combined with chemicals and the way connecting instances in the brain work. This images addresses the "electricity" connected to mental illness.
