Catherine McKnight

 

Catherine McKnight

Anxiety

2021

Wood, black paint, plexiglass, speedball ink, wood glue, nails, double sided tape, screws, and battery powered led strip lights

15 3/8" x 63 1/2" x 3 3/4"

Anxiety is about representing a mental struggle that anyone can go through but mostly it represents what I go through. To be specific this piece is about my struggle with my anxiety. It is about showing the audience something that I experience internally. I tried to represent this in an abstract way. This piece is not intended to be read from left to right. There in fact is no starting or ending point. It is up to the viewer to read this in a way where they feel it starts. The first box on the left represents me in this spiral like state to which I feel like there is no way out and the only thing I can do is to spiral deeper and deeper. This is when I tend to feel trapped the most. The second box in the middle consists of a bunch of question marks. My anxiety has me constantly questioning and overthinking every little single thing that I do. The last box on the right represents me in this fog like state, where my body is physically here but my mind is somewhere else. I am not mentally present when this happens. I decided to represent that with a tv static like image. Above I stated that this piece is not intended to be read from left to right that is because my anxiety has no order. It has its own life and it decided which stage it wants to start and end at. Anxiety is about getting on a more personal level with my audience letting them see and experience a side of me that I do not let a lot of people see.