Screaming Through Silence: Art as Healing and Expression
Art has always been more than just creating for me, it’s survival. When words fail or when the noise of the world gets too heavy, I turn to colors, shapes, and images that pour out what I can’t always say. These recent pieces came from a place of both personal pain and a deep frustration with the world around me. They are raw, maybe unsettling, but that’s the point. Healing isn’t always pretty. Truth isn’t always comfortable.
Free Speech
The first piece shows a face with its mouth stitched shut. To me, this is both personal and political. On one level, it reflects times in my life where I’ve felt silence, whether by mental illness, fear of judgment, or the pressure to hold back my truth. On another level, it speaks to the way free speech feels under attack in our culture, where voices are often drowned out, censored, or punished. The blood, the raw eyes, the strained expression—they’re a reminder that silencing isn’t neutral. It’s violent.
The Silenced Scream
The second piece is more chaotic: a body exploding in red, with sharp teeth bared in an endless scream. This came from my own inner battles, that feeling of being overwhelmed and consumed by emotions with no safe place to put them. But it’s also about how society reacts to rage and pain, labeling it monstrous instead of listening. Sometimes the scream isn’t meant to scare; it’s meant to be heard.
The 24 Hour News Cycle
The last piece is a critique of the world we live in now. A figure with an open, hollow mouth and an exposed brain, paired with the words “24 Hour News Cycle.” Constant media noise has a way of numbing us, leaving us drained and yet overstimulated. For me, it worsens my anxiety and makes healing harder. For society, it means we’re caught in a loop of outrage and distraction, where truth gets lost. This painting is my way of saying: the cycle is eating us alive.
Healing Through Expression
Creating these works was not just about making a statement, it was about release. Each stroke pulled something heavy out of me. Each image gave form to feelings I couldn’t just talk through. Art doesn’t fix everything, but it helps me process, it helps me breathe. And in sharing it, I hope it helps others reflect too.
Closing Thoughts
I create because I have to, but I also create because I believe art can make a difference. It can challenge, it can disturb, and it can heal. These paintings are my way of pushing back against silence, both my own and the world’s. If they make you uncomfortable, sit with that. Sometimes discomfort is the start of change.