Centrifugal 5G

This statement mentions mental illness and references may be distressing for some.

Please engage with care and seek support if needed.

“Whilst creating my ‘black spaghetti’ paintings the word ‘centrifugal’ popped into my mind.  The word centrifugal in Latin means ‘centre-fleeing’ and is a word from physics and means moving or tending to move away from a centre.  

It certainly felt like I was being propelled by an unconscious force, in the creation of this work, hence the title Centrifugal 5G!

Adding to this force of nature is the fact that I have had bipolar since I was 34 years old.  It manifested itself whilst I was in my final year at university studying for a visual arts degree. Mental illness certainly takes you to borders of your mental awareness, thankfully art was my saviour.

I completed my degree six months later thanks to sheer persistence and the input from many mental health professionals. 

This body of large paintings are a snapshot of my psyche, how it works as an artist, and the push to understand the boundaries of thinking in terms of my identity as a female in this abstract world that we exist in.   To me there is almost a dreamlike nightmarish fear that erodes the nature of being a female in this patriarchal society.   Almost as if we had to squeeze in our existence in between the mechanisms of masculine domination of men who have not integrated their anima, their female side.

I see the centrifugal force as a personal metaphor for feminine self-empowerment allowing for self-growth, motivation, a means of emotional release, and in exploring self-identity finding a pure joy in the emotional intelligence of my evolving psyche. 

I would also like to show other people on a mental health recovery mission that creativity can be a strong inner structure you can build for yourself.

The women in the paintings find themselves contending with the mechanisms of life, a fight against structures of repression and denial of their inner nature and legitimate self-hood and how they can find the strength to rise to the challenge on their own terms.”

 

 Julie Zapasa, artist.