"Self Care is What You Need to Shine Brighter Than Your Anxiety" is a part of my Interrupting a Portrait series which focused on the idea of experimenting with different ways to interrupt a traditional portrait.

Artist Statement:

My name is Samantha Wigglesworth, a local artist in Fort St John. This work is one that is very personal to me, not only because it is my first self portrait but because it is a representation of my struggles over the last few years. I am someone who suffers from poor mental health, specifically anxiety. Something that I wanted to represent in my self portrait as it is something that I feel I have finally tamed. The eyes in the background are a representation of the anxiety that always follows but as you can see from the pink glowing neon light, representing self care, it is less of an overpowering darkness. The goal is not to make them disappear entirely but to use self care to help lessen the anxiety in the day to day operation and to “shine brighter”.

The portrait itself is a reflection of the confidence I have established. I show this through an assured striking brush stroke which is a kind of painting style or technique that I have always admired as confident and statement making. Therefore I employed it as the boldest strokes I have used thus far in my career. I use this piece as a reflection of that fought for self-assuredness.