Ellie Riley

Phone: 07964033884

Email:

Instagram: @ellieriley_art

Chaotic branches, overlapping in seemingly natural and unnatural

ways that overwhelm and confuse, are the subject of my project. In

the way these branches and trees create a staggering atmosphere

with their presence, I wish to connect these aesthetics to the

overwhelming nature of depressive, anxious and obsessive

thoughts that come with the hidden struggles of mental illness.

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Inspired by a childhood sketchbook which I kept during my personal

experiences with mental health difficulties, I am exploring the feelings and emotions brought back from looking at these images. Forests were something I grew up around. During difficult moments, when I refused to leave the car I would find distraction in focusing on the trees, drawing them with as much realistic precision as I could. Many of my feelings as I was growing up with the depression, like the slowly composed branches, were embellished in the tangled foliage I drew.

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I am working from my head to create manifestations of these

obsessive thoughts, embodying the dark energy with these

foreboding entities hidden within the forest “mind-scape”.

Painting