The Fear of being alone

• Artist:Edvard Munch
• Title: Seperation
• Media:Oil on Canvas
• Dimensions:w1270 x h960 mm
• Date:1896
• Source: https://www.edvardmunch.org/separation.jsp

         Biography: "Edvard Munch was born in Norway in 1863 and, with the notable exception of the two decades from 1889 to 1909 spent traveling, studying, working and exhibiting in France and Germany, he lived there until his death in 1944. He was active as a painter from the 1880s until shortly before his death, though the greater part of his oeuvre, and certainly the better known part, was produced before the early 1920s"(https://www.edvardmunch.org/biography.jsp)

          Artist Statement:"Over and over again in his pictures of the middle 1890s Munch used variations of the same images - the column of light on the sea, the blonde giri on the beach, the lustful woman in red, the older woman in black, the unhappy man, etc - juggling them in various combinations to symbolize different human conditions and relations. Here he illustrates the man's sorrow at parting from his love"(https://www.edvardmunch.org/separation.jsp)

            Techniques: Multiple Focal Points on the man and women, Specific emphasis on position of the mans hand.

After I began to have panic attacks regularly, I would have this irrational fear that my anxiety would hit and I would have no one around to help calm me down, specifically my mother who has been my support system during these times. I would get really anxious and uncomfortable anytime I was alone that I would often go to places I didn't really have any interest going just so that someone was around. This painting immediately reminded me of that horrible feeling I would often get.

The Emptiness

• Artist: John Ruess
• Title:This is your Baptism
• Media: Acrylics and Charcoal
• Dimensions: 70x50cm
• Date: 2013
• Source of the work: http://www.johnreuss.com/work-2011-2012

         Biography: "Born 1973 in Germany, now living and working in Denmark. Being a self taught artist, John Reuss comes from a professional background in graphic layout & design, marketing and communication."(https://www.facebook.com/pg/johnreuss/about/)

        Artists Statement : "My Work Is Characterized By Contrasts - The Juxtaposition Of Opposites On Several Levels - Which Is Recognized Throughout My Paintings. Fine Detail, Drawn Lines And Meticulously Painted Shapes Clash With Bold Brushstrokes, Spatters And Blurred Contours. Soft Organic Shapes And Multifaceted Figures Meet Hard, Calculated Geometric Abstractions."(http://www.johnreuss.com/artist-statement/)

         Techniques: Focal points on the mouth and heads/ Value and contrast from Mouth to Head to show emphasis on mouth

When suffering from an anxiety disorder, your head can feel like its in the clouds, or like this picture  shows, completely filled with darkness. There is something very frustrating about not being able to concentrate on something you want give your full attention to. Where your mind is in a state of confusion all day it can take a tole on someone, so much that it makes me want to scream sometimes. This painting expresses exactly what that feels like.

Social Anxiety

• Artist: Marla Edwards
• Title: Social Anxiety
• Media: Painting-Acrylic on Canvas
• Dimensions: N/A
• Date: July 2 2014
• Source: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/social-anxiety-marla-edwards.html

      Bio: Artist who joined Fine Art America in 2014

      Artists Statement: "This piece is about how people with social anxiety can perceive others in a crowded or public place. They feel trapped, surrounded, and paranoid that everyone is watching and judging them."(https://fineartamerica.com/featured/social-anxiety-marla-edwards.html)

       Techniques: Main Vocal Point of the man in the chair, large Contrast in color to put even more focus on the Vocal point, and some Ordered Chaos.

One of the first times I experienced social anxiety after I was diagnosed was at a restaurant.  It was something I had never felt before, like every eye in the room was on me and judging me, I was so uncomfortable. I could hardly breath, like i was drowning, and I was unable to sit through dinner, one of the worst times for me because I had to leave my family there while I tried to get it together. This feeling is something you can not explain until you experience it yourself, which is something I would not wish on anyone.

The Many Faces of Anxiety

• Artist: Joseph Loughborough
• Title: 'Amongst'
• Media: Charcoal and Gold leaf on paper
• Dimensions:130/150cm
• Date: N/A
• Source: http://www.josephloughborough.co.uk/recent-work/

      Bio: "Joseph Loughborough (b. 1981) spent his formative years exploring the derelict boatyards and creeks of Portsmouth, on the south coast of the UK. After graduating from Portsmouth University he pursued interests in art, philosophy and skateboarding culture, living in London, Paris and currently Berlin."(http://www.josephloughborough.co.uk/bio/)

      Artists Statement: "Honesty, expressionism and catharsis can be read from Loughborough’s impulsive and intuitive mark making, which strive to grasp a comprehension of the human condition.
Drawing inspiration from various themes concerned with Camus/Kierkegaard's notion of ‘Absurdity’, each drawing becomes a decadent theatre of emotion, sexuality and movement. Lonely human forms seem to struggle and ponder the sporadically lit space they occupy without reaching the point of a dramatic emotional encounter. Couples and groups of people cling together searching for an antidote to the revelations of their existence.Personifications of latent hopes and emotions wait in vain to be realized. No specific conclusions can be made to the meaning of the individual works aside from the acknowledgement and indulgence of image, expression and technique. This reflects absurdity’s philosophical model of observing our potentially meaningless existence without the sterilization of Nihilism. The irony of religious motifs act to enhance the awkward balance between secularism and piousness that the characters depicted seem to grapple with (http://www.josephloughborough.co.uk/bio/)
        Techniques: Multiple Focal Points on the different faces, Unity in the amount in faces in each row but with Variety in each face being different.

This painting shows me the different faces of anxiety, every person fighting their own battle. There is no set way a person looks when they have some sort of an anxiety disorder. Many go through their normal lives and you would not know the difference. This causes people who never experienced anxiety to often criticize the validity of a person claiming to suffer from anxiety, which is usually accompanied with the over used comment of "its all in your head". Because your right it is and thats the problem.

The Heart and Mind

• Artist: Rivka Korf
• Title: Screaming Hydra, Anxiety
• Media: Oil on Canvas
• Dimensions: 18x26in
• Date: July 2017
• Source: https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Screaming-Hydra-Anxiety/995997/3647352/view

     Bio: "Rivka Korf is a self-taught Graphic Designer and Illustrator. She paints in her free time while her two-year old baby is sleeping. Rivka’s art consists of expressionist and surrealistic paintings that express strong emotions."(https://www.saatchiart.com/artbyrivkakorf)

     Artists Statement: "A cacophony of shrieking voices piercing the dark night, emitted from faces contorted with fear, a jumble of pain and anguish, despair and anger. The faces are rooted in a contorted and tortured heart. The gloomy background suggests darkness, while the blue hues of the faces imply indifference."(https://www.saatchiart.com/art/Painting-Screaming-Hydra-Anxiety/995997/3647352/view)

       Techniques: Repetition of Faces(Main focal point),  Subverting the Canon of Porportions(Elongated neck, heart), Abstract

I chose this painting by Rivka Korf as my final post because this to me symbolizes the big picture of the power anxiety disorders hold. The heart connecting to the repetition of screaming faces shows that what ever the mind feels the heart will follow suit, meaning whatever the mind believes the body will react accordingly, whether its fear, worrying, panic attacks, etc. A person with an anxiety disorder had a daily battle they have to face every time they wake up. Hopefully this different works of art will give you an understanding of the very real issues we face everyday.

The Conclusion:

        This process of creating my own art exhibit was very interesting for me, never being an art person before, finding out that many artists have gone through what I have was eye opening experience. Choosing from the right artists that would support my theme of anxiety and mental issues was a real treat because I found many artists use painting as an outlet to cope with their mental issues or anxieties. What came naturally was finding the works of art that really expressed how I felt while dealing with my anxiety disorder, what did not come easy was finding the dimensions and info needed for all the paintings. This caused me to get rid of some great paintings due to lack of info provided by the artists, but as I learned thats what comes with the process of putting a virtual art exhibit. I gained a lot of respect for the job of a curator, I had a tough time choosing from the sheer amount of artists on todays world and deciding who would fit the theme that I envisioned. I can only imagine how tough it must be to create a real exhibit and the pressure these people face when deciding who they want. Thousands of people in the world deal with anxiety in their life, when I was diagnosed with a anxiety disorder I felt like I was drowning and I was alone. Reading about the different experiences of these artists and how similar our reactions were was almost a relief, a relief knowing I am not alone and that there are ways to cope, and live a better quality of life which was the most important thing I gained from this. Thank you!