6174
Creations of Dylan
SummaryThe artist 'Dylan', as he prefers to be known, was one of six recipients of a 2010 New Zealand Media Grant from the Mental Health Foundation of New Zealand and the Ministry of Health's 'Like Minds, Like Mine' programme. Main Body
The aim of the grants and the projects they support is to focus on mental health, individual well-being and to help reduce the stigma and discrimination sometimes associated with mental illness.
Dylan's grant has allowed him to create an art exhibition that explores the links between alcohol abuse, experiences of depression, anxiety and phobia. He has drawn his artistic inspiration from personal experience.
Dylan says he has been involved in art since a very young age.
"Apparently as a toddler I was always cutting things out, doing jigsaws and drawing. My Mum is really creative too so she always encouraged my creativity. I've just felt a need to create for as long as I can remember.
Growing up I realised I could draw things that looked like what I was trying to draw", he says.
The aim of the exhibition is to promote discussion about mental illness , to reduce stigma and discrimination and to help increase understanding and support for people with experience of mental illness.
Dylan exploring creative possibilities.
"I think discrimination can only be decreased through understanding, and understanding comes after the subject becomes 'normalised' through repeditive exposure and discussion.I hope my paintings will promote these discussions. I also hope my paintings encourage creativity and free-thinking", says Dylan.
When asked about his creative process Dylan explains, "I start with the idea of what I want to say. Often it just manifests in a doodle, or lyric or thought at 3am in the morning and I go from there, letting things happen and working on instinct. Trying to use my technical abilities in harmony with my instinct and intuition.
“Although I'm constantly problem solving - asking questions of myself while I paint - as soon as I start 'trying' to paint I know it's time to take a break. I find it difficult sometimes to know when a piece is 'finished'.
“Starting is the easy part for me and knowing when to stop can be the challenging bit. I have to ask myself if I want to stop because I'm comfortable with where the painting is at right now or if. I'm afraid to 'wreck' it if I keep going. I have to ask myself - do I genuinely believe that the idea is complete and ready to put to rest?"
'Evolution and Emergence' - Mixed media on board - 2010.
Although not particularly keen on labels, it was after Dylan discovered 'Outsider Art' that he finally found an artistic connection he'd never felt before.
Many Outsider Artists have lived with some form of mental illness and seem to be able to create from an inner place that is sometimes forgotten in mainstream art with its necessary commercial imperatives.
He identifies with the fact that Outsider Artists are mostly self-taught and typically have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions.
Through his art Dylan would like to be able to sustain a creative living. He'd also welcome the opportunity to teach others how to access their creativity and use it as a form of expression and therapy. To find out more about Dylan, his art and his exhibition go to www.creationsofdylan.tumblr.com
'NINE: A Journey Through Mental Illness and Addiction' opens to the public at Creative Tauranga Community Gallery 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, November 10 and runs until November 28.
by Pete Morris (2011).
Pete Morris is an occasional painter and an art lover. He is a free-lance writer with a particular interest in promoting the visual arts in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.
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This page archived at Perma CC in November of 2016: https://perma.cc/5EQF-7XT4
The aim of the grants and the projects they support is to focus on mental health, individual well-being and to help reduce the stigma and discrimination sometimes associated with mental illness.
Dylan's grant has allowed him to create an art exhibition that explores the links between alcohol abuse, experiences of depression, anxiety and phobia. He has drawn his artistic inspiration from personal experience.
Dylan says he has been involved in art since a very young age.
"Apparently as a toddler I was always cutting things out, doing jigsaws and drawing. My Mum is really creative too so she always encouraged my creativity. I've just felt a need to create for as long as I can remember.
Growing up I realised I could draw things that looked like what I was trying to draw", he says.
The aim of the exhibition is to promote discussion about mental illness , to reduce stigma and discrimination and to help increase understanding and support for people with experience of mental illness.
Dylan exploring creative possibilities.
"I think discrimination can only be decreased through understanding, and understanding comes after the subject becomes 'normalised' through repeditive exposure and discussion.I hope my paintings will promote these discussions. I also hope my paintings encourage creativity and free-thinking", says Dylan.
When asked about his creative process Dylan explains, "I start with the idea of what I want to say. Often it just manifests in a doodle, or lyric or thought at 3am in the morning and I go from there, letting things happen and working on instinct. Trying to use my technical abilities in harmony with my instinct and intuition.
“Although I'm constantly problem solving - asking questions of myself while I paint - as soon as I start 'trying' to paint I know it's time to take a break. I find it difficult sometimes to know when a piece is 'finished'.
“Starting is the easy part for me and knowing when to stop can be the challenging bit. I have to ask myself if I want to stop because I'm comfortable with where the painting is at right now or if. I'm afraid to 'wreck' it if I keep going. I have to ask myself - do I genuinely believe that the idea is complete and ready to put to rest?"
'Evolution and Emergence' - Mixed media on board - 2010.
Although not particularly keen on labels, it was after Dylan discovered 'Outsider Art' that he finally found an artistic connection he'd never felt before.
Many Outsider Artists have lived with some form of mental illness and seem to be able to create from an inner place that is sometimes forgotten in mainstream art with its necessary commercial imperatives.
He identifies with the fact that Outsider Artists are mostly self-taught and typically have little or no contact with the mainstream art world or art institutions.
Through his art Dylan would like to be able to sustain a creative living. He'd also welcome the opportunity to teach others how to access their creativity and use it as a form of expression and therapy. To find out more about Dylan, his art and his exhibition go to www.creationsofdylan.tumblr.com
'NINE: A Journey Through Mental Illness and Addiction' opens to the public at Creative Tauranga Community Gallery 5.30 p.m. on Thursday, November 10 and runs until November 28.
by Pete Morris (2011).
Pete Morris is an occasional painter and an art lover. He is a free-lance writer with a particular interest in promoting the visual arts in Tauranga and the Bay of Plenty.
—-
This page archived at Perma CC in November of 2016: https://perma.cc/5EQF-7XT4
Usage
AcknowledgementTe Ao Mārama - Tauranga City Libraries
Personal Information
First Name(s)DylanSurnameDylan
Relates To
Admin
AuthorPete MorrisArchived Kete Linkhttps://perma.cc/5EQF-7XT4Type of ContributionCommunity story
TaxonomyStories | People
TaxonomyStories | PeoplePete Morris, Creations of Dylan. Pae Korokī, accessed 03/12/2024, https://paekoroki.tauranga.govt.nz/nodes/view/6174
