Opening The Door in Question

As an artist and researcher, my work focuses on the creation of Extended Reality (XR) and transmedia storytelling experiences which seek to convey and explore experiences of Schizophrenia, delusional belief systems and psychosis. This work is borne from a deeply personal place. My mother was diagnosed with schizophrenia, well before I entered the world. However, her illness was so debilitating that she became unable to care for me and I was ultimately made a ward of the state. Interactions with the mental health and legal systems never seemed to help her and our relationship was severely damaged as a result. Many sought to dehumanise her, both within the family and without. At times in my life, I too have been prone to psychotic episodes and I too have found limited help within the medical model of mental health. Most pressingly, I was struck by the persistent pathologising in the field of psychiatry and the unwillingness to engage with core emotional issues. Mental health issues have deep emotional histories, but these are often left completely ignored in favour of numbing medications, whilst a lot of society either dismisses a person as crazy, or awkwardly turn away from uncomfortable behaviours without trying to understand them. It is for this reason that I have dedicated much of my time as an artist to researching and understanding schizophrenia and psychosis at a deeper level and is what has inspired me to use my practice to make XR works which transport people into the psychotic universe.