Postcards from the edge #4
Sketches from my breakdown
“Sharp. Fortissimo. Repeat”.
One of the triggers for my breakdown was the serious illness of a relative.
I started thinking about medical graphs, how they suddenly switch from regularity to chaotic disturbance.
Having a breakdown was a bit like that.
I started to play around with images that feature a regular linear progression from left to right, and then to introduce a chaotic boing, like coiled wires springing out, loose and tangled.
I did it with the straight line of a seascape horizon. I did it with the straight line of telegraph wires, with birds sitting on them. And I did it with the straight lines of a musical stave.
This was the first image that combined elements from all of those.
I added the sharps, and the fortissimo, and the repeat, because they seemed to capture something of the experience.
Life can be hard. If you are feeling depressed, anxious, or at rock bottom – talk to somebody.