Bethany Salisbury Art | Caladrius
Art by Bethany Salisbury Styer digitally mastered and printed on 90% Modal 10% Cashmere with fringed edges. Measures 140x140.
100% of profit goes to the artist who is pursuing her Masters in Fine Art.
Mental Health awareness.
From the artist:
My work focuses on mental health and the non-human symbols used to explore our minds and the minds of others. Mental illness and mood disorders affect all societies and permeate every subgroup and class of people. I am fascinated by the ways humanity has utilized animals and plants as unburdened signifiers of humankind’s values, emotions, and mental processes throughout time. With these symbols, humans can better express their inner workings and create an empathic connection with a viewer or reader that otherwise would not exist. I create art that combines these symbols with research on both specific mental illnesses and mood disorders as well as on more universal mental struggles contemporary humans face. I do this in order to open up productive and destigmatizing dialogues about mental health and the way we view and treat ourselves and others.
This work depicts the Caladrius, a mythical bird of healing. It is depicted as double headed because if it looked at you, you were healed, if it looked away your illness consumed you. I see this as a metaphor for seeing the person behind the illness, in particular relating to my work on mental illness, offering some hope for relief from depression or any other mental ailment. The Caladrius was originally depicted in Roman friezes and then later adapted into medieval Christian art. The halo reminiscent icons are Christian, while the scales are Roman. It is acrylic on canvas.
