My
sister was diagnosed with depression and anxiety last year, but her symptoms
had been prevalent for much longer. Throughout her teenage years, her bedroom
has taken on a new form. It is now synonymous with the color pink, the cats
she’s raised, walls as art canvases, herbs, flowers, and crystals. Some might
call it a “depression room,” a term that has been recently popularized to
describe the mess someone diagnosed might exhibit. I wanted to find a way to
display that my sister’s room demonstrates her creativity and warmth; it is not
just a “mess.” I took photos of details from her bedroom, then edited them as
aura photographs. A teenager’s bedroom is a part of their identity, and my goal
was to create a visual representation of the energy of my sister. I recorded a
conversation between my sister and me and put the audio over a video of the
photos I made projected on my family’s TV. I then painted an abstract piece of
art to further explore how I visualize my sister’s room.
