Through the transformation of mental illness symptoms into physical sculpture and written work, my practice aims to translate the manifestation of disorders such as paranoia. Paranoia is defined as the “irrational and persistent thoughts...that cause a person to believe that others are trying to harm, deceive, or exploit them”. A personal connection with the feelings associated with the disorder sparked interest within me, acting as a catalyst for my artwork and ideas. My practice is mixed media; as I combine sculpture, poetry, and audio.

“PARANOIA” takes inspiration from Sarah Lucas’ “Nice Tits” (2011) & “Mumum” (2012). “PARANOIA” is a collection of eyeball sculptures made from mod rock, newspaper, acrylic paint, pipe-cleaners, fabric, and acetate. My work is made from solid material, unlike Lucas’ artwork in which she fills tights with stuffing.

 

However, the closely-packed nature of the individual sculptures within “PARANOIA” resembles the arrangement of Lucas’ aforementioned artworks. Placed at eye level, the sculptures are suspended by wire hooks connected to clear fishing wire and are hung in a semi-circular shape. The sculptures face inwards as the viewer stands in the middle. So that wherever the viewer turns, they will be looked at by the sculptures. My work is confronting and uncomfortable, eliciting a sense of unease within the viewer as they cannot escape the unwavering, watchful gaze of the sculptures.

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The sculptures were made by covering inflated balloons with layers of mod rock. In the development of the shape of the sculptures, it became clear that the larger the balloon was inflated, the more spherical it became. This knowledge was useful in deciding how large the sculptures were to be, as well as taking into consideration their weight. Different iterations of hooks made from wire were trialed. Until I found that a coat-hanger-shaped hook with a wide loop at the top would be the most stable in order to hang the sculptures.

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In order to develop my sculptures further and simultaneously hide the wire hooks, I wanted to create the optic nerve coming from the eyes. My initial idea for the optic nerve was to cover where the wire hook and fishing wire connected to the sculpture. Having the nerve attached at the top of the eye sculpture, with the iris on the side of the eyeball. However, this wouldn’t have been anatomically correct as the optic nerve should be opposite the iris. This altered my plans as I had to work out how to make it appear the two are opposite each other. By combining mod rock and masking tape, I created a long, thin bulge on the back of the eyeball starting from the middle. This bulge acts as the optic nerve. Connecting it to the wire hook on the top of the eye, making it seem as if it originated at the back of the eye rather than the top. After this dried, the bulge (acting as the optic nerve) and surrounding area was covered in red fabric. Though, the fabric was sheer, so before gluing it down, he areas which would later be covered in fabric, were painted using red acrylic. This was to make these areas opaque. The iris of each eye sculpture was also created using acrylic paint. Lastly, red acetate was wrapped around the ends of the optic nerves in order to add texture to the sculptures and therefore make them more visually interesting.

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Whilst viewing my sculptures, individuals can listen to a spoken word poem I wrote about feeling paranoid. Furthering their experience as the headphones create an immersive environment. The poem speaks to and personifies paranoia. As if a child, it wants to cling to, and be friends with the speaker. Though it surpasses the boundaries of ‘friendship’ and becomes overbearing. Eventually, a stage of acceptance is reached as the speaker asks if it prefers “watching [them] whilst [they] undress/ or sleep, friend?”.

There is only one set of headphones, and the sculptures will be hung in a way so that only one person can be within it, at a time. Therefore, creating an experience that is personal between the viewer and the artwork as they are alone, face-to-face with the sculptures.