Mens Mental Health: The Levy Broke
This was part of a set of illustrations commissioned by Alright Mate CIC for a booklet which tells the stories of fathers throughout lockdown. I made illustrations for the booklet based on real interviews with fathers.
Inspiration
This piece was made to represent the sense of overwhelm and chaos, and giving in to the tidal wave of fear and emotion over lockdown. This was based on the following quote:
“There’s the general fear that comes with the pandemic, I think, and that’s quite a stressful thing … And I think, to be honest, as well, with what was happening last year, I had no—absolutely no choice but to just crack on and carry on. There was no way that we could have afforded both of us to be unwell … I think I held things at bay - so I definitely think there’s been some fall-out, from that, for me, during this period … I probably had more time to reflect on and realise what had happened. I think the levy broke, to some degree, with myself, during lockdown.”
Method
The swirling water patterns were created using marbled paper, which was scanned and digitally manipulated; other details were added digitally in Photoshop.