Titles: “Apprehensive in Blue,” “Brain Disassociation,” “Depression Brain,” “Depression Heart,” “Eerily Hopeful Heart,” “Emotional Dysregulation,” “Emotional Regulation,” and “Heart Disassociation”
Artist: Ari Moretz
Size: 2” x 2”
Medium: Acrylic
Artist Statement: My grandfather served his country in World War II. He was a machine gunner, and he never spoke in detail about what he experienced. I always remember him as a kind and caring man who would always call me ‘mam,’ even though I was much younger than him.
Back in his time, mental health was never something that was discussed, and he kept what happened in the war to himself. The little I do know is that he lost friends, and he cleaned up the bodies from the battlefield. Those two things in themselves would cause immense trauma. Given the high stakes of war, he soldiered on. He was wounded in action. He ended up with shrapnel in his back from the war, and it all melted into his back when he was hit.
The “Mental Health Minis” series features 2″ x 2″ works of art that symbolize the complex relationship between the mind and heart—illustrating the internal struggles many face when grappling with mental health issues. These pieces offer expressive, yet understated, representations of the brain and heart as cartoon-like figures.
Though presented in a light-hearted, approachable style, the simplicity of these acrylic paintings encapsulates a powerful message about the struggles we often face within ourselves. By uniting these small works in a unified space, “Mental Health Minis” seeks to provoke thought and conversation about the impact of mental health in a visually compelling way.