Kenadie’s Safe Place

By Artist: Kenadie

Description of Art:
Front: This piece is painted and drawn on a rectangle canvas. It shows a bedroom with yellow walls, tan-colored flooring, a white open door, and typical bedroom furniture. The dresser drawers are open with clothes spilling out of them. The waste basket is overflowing, there is a book on the floor, and someone sitting in their bed on the right side of the room. The person has storm clouds with lightning above them and a thought bubble with the following words: Bills, Crime, Love, Food, Family, Success, School, and Job.

Back: The back of this canvas has a note from the artist written in pencil. This drawing represents anxiety and depression to me cause even though you’re in your so called Safe Space and where I feel most comfortable things around you that would make you happy can’t even get you out of bed. You have everything around you to make you happy but no motivation to do so. Anxiety will cloud my mind and I worry about everything all at once and I lose sleep, and precious productive time. I try not to overthink and just lay down but it never works. I feel like anxiety and depression go hand in hand and if you can eliminate one it feels a little better. Being in my room in general helps my anxiety and where I feel most free to release my emotions and isolate.

Artist: Kenadie (She/Her)
Interview:
This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Kenadie (She/Her) shared with us on August 5th, 2024.

Kenadie (She/Her) is a lover of art including drawing, poetry, and tattoos. She is a young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth and she experiences depression and anxiety.

Describing their Art:
When Kenadie thought about submitting art for this project the first thing that came to mind was her safe space, her room. Her room is the space where she gets to be alone with her thoughts and she has everything she needs. Even though it is her safe space, anxiety and depression can still come through. She was very intentional about portraying a space that is dark, “kind of dingy” to emphasize how it feels late at night.
For Kenadie, a safe, stable, and nurturing environment has routine but the people supporting you let you take things step by step.
“There can be better days, where you get up and feel motivated. You just feel the emotions through, it’s okay to feel them and feel low sometimes but when you’re ready just pick up and keep going.”

The Semicolon

Artist: Mo Clark

Description of Art:
This piece is on a white rectangle canvas and was created using a variety of colorful markers. At the center of the piece is a side profile of a person in black ink. Inside the side profile where the brain would be is a plethora of colorful scribbles going in a circular motion. At the center of the scribes is a silver-colored semi colon. At the bottom right edge of the piece is the artist’s signature, black letters “MCC” with 3 dots under the letters.

Artist: Mo Clark (They/Them)
Interview:
This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Mo Clark (They/Them) shared with us on August 2nd, 2024.

Mo (They/Them) is a lover of art and music, in fact they can play the trumpet, cello, violin, mellophone, french horn, and guitar. They are a young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth and they describe themself as both neurodivergent and disabled.

Describing their Art:
Mo shared that they have multiple “mental illnesses” but did not start to consider themselves as disabled until the government did. They said that the scribbles represented the “mess” in your head when you have multiple mental health conditions. The center of the scribbles is a semicolon, as a symbol for the chronic suicidality that they’ve dealt with.
“It’s a symbol to continue on and not stop.”
For Mo, a safe, stable, and nurturing environment is weapon free and encourages you to continue living life and writing your story.
“Not all disabilities are visible, they’re in your head and they’re messy.”

Artistic Reflections on Disability and Acceptance

Everyone Loves Dogs By Lessa

Description of Art: This piece was created on paper, in a vertical rectangle shape, using colorful markets in pink, blue, orange, green, and black. There is a poem centered along the piece and it reads: “When you hear me, I make a mistake, You raise your hand, And I don’t fear it, There is a weight on my head, It isn’t stress, It’s your hand, Patting me like a dog, Everyone loves dogs, And you love me, And you love me..” There is a green road-like line going through the middle of the piece, horizontally. Throughout the piece there are dots, stars, squiggly lines going in a circle, and hearts. At the edges of the piece there is a green house and bookshelf. There is a blue silhouette of a dog’s head. There is also a pink book, a pink silhouette of a cat’s head and a pink drawing pencil.

Artist: Lessa (They/It) Interview:
This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Lessa (They/It) shared with us on August 9th, 2024.

Lessa (They/It) is a lover of digital and physical art, in fact they sometimes take commissions. They are a young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth and described themself as a queer non-binary lesbian with both physical and mental disabilities.

Describing their Art:

“When I first got to (housing program) I found it really hard to sleep in my bedroom because I was anticipating the other shoe drop, where it would be revealed that it was not in fact as safe as it was.”

Lessa recalled some advice that people should avoid reaching to pet the top of a dog’s head because it could create fear. They said there is panic that comes with being helped because you expect a “smack” and not the weight of a “gentle hand” on your head.
“I’m allowed to not be a perfect human being and still be helped. I’m allowed to make mistakes and there still be a roof over my head and food on my table.”

Lessa feels like the program they’re in reaches out, not with anger but with concern when they are struggling. They want to know how to make it better, make it okay, “And what is more okay than a dog?”

When it comes to systems… Lessa feels like the people who get to decide if they are “disabled enough” don’t understand the disabled experience.

“People in power around disability seem to be inclined to assume they know the best and treat disabled people like they’re all children or stupid, especially people with mental disabilities.”

Lessa was intentional about using the line “When you hear me” in their poem to emphasize how important it is to listen to disabled folks.
When it comes to the folks who view this piece…

Lessa expressed hope that you find humor in the way they compare themself to a dog but also see the symbolism.

“A dog is man’s best friend, this person just wants to be liked, understood, and accepted. Dogs will tear apart entire houses and people will forgive them. And yet, if a person does that because of a mental illness or a disability, they’re usually demonized…Try to understand why.”

Autism Perspective

By Ben

Description of Art:
This piece was submitted and created digitally utilizing a tool that mimics watercolor paint. At the center of the piece is a person with long, green, messy hair and pale skin. They are wearing a blue striped shirt and blue pants with blotches of blue-green and purple colors. The person is sitting down, legs bent in front of them, with their hands together at their front. Around them are blotches of blue-green color with a white star inside each one. Among the blotches are 4 different sharks with blue and green coloring, floating around the image with small eyes and smiles.

Artist: Ben (He/Him)

Image Description: Ben has short, vibrant green hair, brown eyebrows, and white skin. He is wearing glasses with a brown frame at the top, silver septum jewelry, and a black t-shirt with bold red lettering.

This project has been exciting for a number of reasons but especially because we had the opportunity to talk to each of the artists about their piece. Here is just some of what Ben (He/Him) shared with us on September 6th, 2024.

Ben (He/Him) is a lover of music, but especially the music you can hear in the 317 hardcore scene he frequents. He is an autistic and trans young adult living in a housing program for LGBTQ+ youth.

Describing their Art:
Ben was very invested in conveying what brings him joy rather than suffering in his piece. The white background with the spaced-out, flowing colors were meant to give the viewer a sense of calm.

The person at the center of the piece is meant to represent Ben, his face intentionally left with a lack of expression. He sits in his room just like the character drawn, with his hands clasped, often fidgeting together. “I wanted to very clearly represent an Autistic person.” The sharks floating around him are representative of one of his special interests.

“It’s like the best coping mechanism because my brain has trained itself to be like, okay that (special interests) means happy and that means engaged, interested and calm.”

For Ben, a safe, stable, and nurturing environment engages those special interests, those joyous parts about being an autistic person. “People who have disabilities and people who are neurodivergent, it isn’t some kind of horror for them. I just drew what represents a big part of my autism. Being autistic doesn’t have to mean that you’re stressed all of the time, that you’re isolated or weird and different. I mean yeah, you’re weird and different but in a good way.”

Ben expressed frustration around people finding him rude or thinking he is unfeeling because there are times where he is not as expressive. He wants people to walk away knowing this:

“If anything else, autistic people, they have more passion and more interest and more affinity for things.”

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