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Katy Matilda Neo

I am an art school drop out, with a PhD in Psychology (which I mostly use as a doorstop) and a cacophony of mental health disorders. I have spent the last 3 years in intensive therapy for my primary diagnoses (Borderline Personality Disorder and Complex Post Traumatic Stress Disorder), and I also live with Major Depressive Disorder, Generalised Anxiety Disorder and Eating Disorder. I'm a hearer of voices, a recipient of intrusive thoughts, and my mind is host to a number of identities, who are learning to get along with one another.

​I'm also a kitten lover, an avid reader, a lover of nature and nighttime, and an artist and writer. For approximately 3 years, I have been documenting my life with mental illness through an art journal sketch series. The pieces in the series are "one draft" drawings, created during or as close as possible to the cognitive or emotional event they depict. My method is not to plan my drawings beforehand. Rather I practice a method I calls "free drawing", which, similarly to "stream of consciousness" writing, involves simply holding the pencil in front of a blank piece of paper, and focusing inwardly on my emotional state. The resultant drawing is often a surprise, even to myself. This method helps me not only to communicate how I am feeling to others (an ability|I struggle with verbally), but it also helps me to work out how I am feeling for myself (another thing I find difficult).

 

The pieces you see here are taken from the art journal series, and each has a caption explaining the emotion or cognitive state they seem to express from my point of view. I am always fascinated to hear about other people's perspectives on what my work means as well, so welcome feedback or questions (please email antiparrot@yandex.com). You can check out my full online portfolio here: www.antiparrot.com, and follow @antiparrot on Instagram to stay up to date with new work.

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