The past 18 months have been filled with anxiety, disassociation and fearfulness. A pandemic spreading across the globe has been mixed with civil and social unrest, continued violence and systemic racism. On top of this, developing echo chambers and persistent digital activity has resulted in increased concerns of mental health worldwide. A landmark study conducted in February 2021 showed that, even though pandemic-related anxiety has fallen from 62 per cent to 42 per cent (since March 2020), loneliness has risen. Ellie Greensmith’s work taps into these widespread emotions, exploring crucial conversations about mental health and its continued stigmatisation. Her method includes repetitive sequences, lines, dots and words, fulfilling the experience of “spiralling” thoughts of unavoidable and intrusive negative emotions. These feelings increase over large-scale installations, conceptually and materially.

@wombonthe3rdfloor