I make art in order to make sense of my mind. Psysmograph is an exhibit of drawings and hand-made books shown as documentation of various mental states over the course of a year. By using a wide range of visual vernacular including representative imagery, automatic mark-making and reactive drawing, the exhibition looks to display evidence of periods of time where personal experiences of mental spaces become inhabitable by the viewer. The work in Psysmograph blends the planned, calculated careful drawings of a person in control of her own mental states, self-aware and articulate in self-expression with the spontaneous, emotional, raw markings of the subconscious. Time is the transformative element which allows for my different mental states to surface and is a difficult variable to understand. In an effort to grasp the passing of time, some of my work has taken the form of books or journals where I log my feelings over a week's time. I also created large, meticulously detailed drawings, the process of which is incredibly slow, sketching with pencil on top of rough, bumpy paper requiring a steady, focused hand. Psysmograph was displayed in the University Gallery at San Diego State University from April 5-9, 2021. Images of this thesis project are on file at the School of Art and Design at San Diego State University.
