Empathy + entropy

Entropy, the slow but steady decline into disorder and chaos, is embedded deep in feelings of anxiety. Anxiety is a natural emotion that aids the human race in the fight or flight response. It can be positive and aid in the decision-making process, but also negative and completely world-shattering. The moments when anxiety devolves into entropic emotion is at the root of many anxiety disorders and other mental health concerns.

My work explores the vast emotional range of anxiety and presents conversations around the concepts of entropy and empathy. We are living in a time where mental health crises are at an all-time high. The world’s mental health epidemic can be attributed to the ever-present, demanding issues of the 21st century. I am most interested in examining the accumulation of emotions that accompany anxiety disorders and finding methods to communicate those emotions to foster community. My body of work explores various coping mechanisms while simultaneously offering empathic connections to the viewer in each piece.

My objective is not to inflict anxiety upon my audience, but to acknowledge these emotions as valid and overcome them to create a resounding hope-filled future. By utilizing vibrant colors, repeated patterns, hand-drawn line elements and installations of found material, I am encouraging the viewer to practice empathy and associate an emotional response to the provided visual stimuli. Using graphic design as a mode of visual communication combined with a variety of printmaking methods, this work examines what it means to not only exist and emote in the 21st century, but what it means to adapt in times of distress, overcome mental health concerns, and work together to establish an empathetic future.