Name: Sarah Donnellan
Location: USA
Title:‘The Voices’
Size: 6” diameter
Medium: polymer clay, image transfer, alcohol ink, acrylic paint
Artist web site: http://artisticrhythms.blogspot.com
From Sarah:
I saw a documentary about children with schizophrenia. They are possessed by the voices in their heads that are very real to them and a constant torment without medication. Truly heartbreaking to witness even just a little of the struggles they and their families go through.
9 responses so far ↓
1 Vikki // Aug 28, 2010 at 9:09 pm
Sarah – I really love this edgy contemporary feel and look to this piece. It’s so rich.
You should definitely put a ‘PRICEY’ TAG on it.
(That’s the artists in me. lol)
The subject matter sad…but the work is also applicable to other subjects…such as 2012.
Interessssssting, huh?
2 Gail // Aug 28, 2010 at 10:09 pm
Sarah, Love this – the design of the figures are so interesting…. I keep going back to look at them. The movement and tension of the background is a perfect interpretation of the theme.
3 Ray Shuell // Aug 29, 2010 at 2:09 am
A long time ago I took a job in a psychiatric unit to help pay the bills. They called me a nursing assistant but I spent most of my time talking to the patients, playing games with them etc. I loved the job but found it so hard, I was only about 20 at the time. Many of these people were young schizophrenics. I think it changed me, for the good, forever. A beautiful, heart-felt piece.
4 Sarah // Aug 29, 2010 at 9:24 am
Sonya, I know. The interviewer talked with the children individually asking about these other ‘people’ that had become such an integral part of their lives. Because the children ranged in ages from seven to fourteen, they had trouble fully explaining which was even harder to watch because on their faces you could see the anguish, yet they seemed possessive of them at the same time. And, thank you.
5 Sarah // Aug 29, 2010 at 9:31 am
Vikki, thank you. I was trying to imagine what it would feel like to have other ‘people’ and their voices inside your head…each having a different personality and demands on the person with this illness. ((Pricey, uh? I’m going to get your advice on that later
) Yes, I really like when art can be versatile in interpretation…or is all art because of who is looking at it? Whose is more important? The artist’s intent or the viewer’s interpretation?
6 Sarah // Aug 29, 2010 at 9:45 am
Gail, thank you, I was hoping I’d be able to portray just that. I wanted to put the figures literally inside a brain…so disorganized ‘gray matter’ is what I had in mind!
7 Sarah // Aug 29, 2010 at 9:51 am
Ray, that is very young to be exposed to that environment…interesting how experiences, from powerful to subtle and unassuming, can affect you the rest of your life. I thank you, very much.
8 Rusty // Aug 29, 2010 at 4:45 pm
Sarah,
Interesting theme and you captured it so well. How odd it must be to know what is real to you but not know what everyone else sees as real. Your background as a circle is perfectly representive of the cycles.
9 Sarah // Sep 2, 2010 at 11:29 am
Thank you, Rusty.
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