Artists that turned pain into art.

Art, for many people is a form of therapy, an outlet of emotions to difficult to form into words. If you've seen any of my personal work, I'm sure your aware that I use my own difficult emotions, and struggles with my mental illness in my work. I've recently become fascinated with other artists work that they may have created in difficult stages of their lives. Its crazy how much you can relate to a piece of work, without any words, you just get how the artist was feeling! 

3 Famous artists who suffered mental illness:

1. Pablo Picasso. 

Picasso's 'blue' period was between 1901-1904 where it is thought that he suffered great depression. He reflected this in his paintings through the blue period in which is used a lack of colour, sticking to blues, greys and monochrome. 

2. Vincent Van gogh 

Van Gogh reportedly suffered from bipolar disorder and was in and out of psychiatric hospitals frequently. This is personally one of my favorite pieces of his work, reflecting himself being 'imprisoned' by his thoughts.   

3. Bobby Baker. 

Bobby Baker's visual diary through her struggles with her borderline personality disorder are honest, imaginative and very surreal. I was lucky enough to attend a workshop based on her style as part of her exhibition 'Diary drawings: mental illness and me:1997-2008'. 

Below are my personal favorite pieces of art work that (to me) depict emotional pain that I can relate to:

Anxiety by BeethyPhotography

Unknown artist. 

Artist: Shin Kwang Ho.

Ceramic sculptures by Nakita Naik.

Hope you guys find these inspiring and decide to do something creative whenever your down, believe me, it really can help! 

Next weeks blog post: 'Philosophical theories on art' 

Becky x