ESCAPISM

"Calyx" by Max McFadden

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Acrylic paint on panel

24 x 42"

2021

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I've come to understand many aspects of my mental health as defense mechanisms against realities that my mind would rather not face.

 

While dissociating to avoid distress or trauma is definitely part of it, in the calmer times I escape through what is called maladaptive daydreaming, creating complex fantasies where I find myself completely lost without even realizing. I become so enveloped in them that I often don't realize that I'm talking to myself or gesturing at nothing.

 

I wanted to create a visual manifestation of that feeling, peering out from a reality that feels constrictive or bleak into a free, fantastical space.

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Click here for the artist website