Category: Art & Expression
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The Weaponization of Innocence
How Society Infantilizes Itself to Death Watching guests on Piers Morgan Uncensored repeatedly ask, ‘What about the children in Gaza?’ got me thinking—why does the discourse always center on children? Why do we not ask, ‘What about the adults? What about the elders? What about the people who have lived, learned, and have something to…
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Advocacy, AI & Technology, Art, Art & Expression, Artists, Capitalism & Society, Conversations, Culture, Culture & Society, Experimental Techniques, Feminism, Fine Art, Grief & Healing, Human Behaviour, Intuition & Intelligence, Modern Identity, Personal Essays, Personal Essays/Autobiography, Personal Reflections, Politics, Pop Culture, Psychology, Self Awareness, Social Commentary, Social Media, Society, Spirituality & Faith, Studio Life, Technology & Society, traditional art, Visual Artabstract duck, abstract expressionism, ageism in war, ancient energy, animal symbolism, Art, art collector, challenging assumptions., Contemporary Art, Critical Thinking, emotional manipulation, esoteric art, ethical dilemmas, Fine Art, forgotten elders, Gaza conflict, generational perspective, global conflicts, Ilana Shamir, intellectual erasure, intergenerational wisdom, media bias, media narratives, misplaced priorities, modern mythology, moral complexity, mysticism, oil stick on canvas, original artwork, Piers Morgan Uncensored, political narratives, propaganda tactics, questioning authority, realpolitik, societal conditioning, spiritual symbolism, surrealism, symbolic art, The Messenger, war discourse, war ethics, war propaganda -
The Psychiatric Playbook: Erase, Medicate, Repeat
If these drawings aren’t proof of neurodivergence, I don’t know what is. Psychiatry wants symptoms in neat little rows, but cognition doesn’t work that way. Thought loops, branches, spirals—obsessive, intricate, endlessly connecting. I mapped it. By hand. No rulers, no compasses, no digital aids. Just the architecture of my own mind, rendered in ink.
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Advocacy, AI & Technology, Art, Art & Expression, Artists, Capitalism & Society, Conversations, Correspondence, Crash, Burn, Write., Culture, Culture & Society, Experimental Techniques, Fine Art, Friendship Dynamics, Human Behaviour, Identity & Transformation, Intuition & Intelligence, memoir, Memoir Excerpts, Mental Health, Mercurial Minds, Modern Identity, Neurodivergence, Personal Essays, Personal Essays/Autobiography, Politics, Psychology, Self Awareness, Social Commentary, Society, Technology & Society, traditional art, true stories, Visual ArtA3 Moleskine, Abstract Drawing, Abstract Ink, adhd, AI and human connection, AI and Mental Health, AI as Mirror, AI Self-Reflection, AI Therapy, AI vs Human Therapy, AI vs. Human Art, AI-Assisted Therapy, anxiety, Architectural Drawing, Artificial Intelligence in Therapy, artificial-intelligence, Artistic Practice, autism, Beyond the DSM, Big Pharma, Breaking the System, Burn, Chaos and Order, Clinical Dissociation, Cognitive Dissonance, Cognitive Mapping, Complex Systems, complex-ptsd, Conceptual Drawing, Connectivity, Contemporary Art, Controlled Chaos, cptsd, Crash, creative process, Cultural Critique, Data Visualization, Digital-Free Artwork, dissociation, Dissociation as Adaptation, Dotwork, DSM Critique, ECT, Electroconvulsive Therapy, Erasure of Trauma, Evolution, Executive Dysfunction, Executive Dysfunction Strategies, Fine Art, Future of Therapy, Geometric Art, Graph Theory Aesthetic, hand drawn, Handcrafted Art, Healing Beyond Psychiatry, Healing from Trauma, Healing Journey, health, High Intelligence and Psychiatry, Ilana Shamir, Ink Illustration, Ink on Paper, IQ and Mental Health, Last Fck Given, Late Diagnosis, Late Stage Psychiatry, Masking, Medical Ethics, Medical Gaslighting, Medical Negligence, Medication vs Understanding, Meditative Drawing, Mental Health, mental health advocacy, mental health awareness, Mental Health Industry, Mental Health Revolution, Mental Health System, Mind Mapping, Misdiagnosis, Network Art, Neurodivergence, Neurodivergent Art, Neurodivergent Insight, Obsessive Drawing, Occupational Therapy, Organic Geometry, Patient-Led Care, pattern recognition, Pen and Ink, Process Art, Psychiatric Abuse, Psychiatric Corruption, Psychiatric Diagnosis, Psychiatric Drugs, Psychiatric Gaslighting, Psychiatric Industry, Psychiatric Labels, psychiatry, Psychiatry Critique, Psychiatry Exposed, Psychiatry is Failing Us, Psychiatry Reform, Psychiatry’s Blind Spots, Psychiatry’s Business Model, Psychiatry’s Failures, Psychiatry’s Unethical Practices., Psychology, Psychology vs Psychiatry, Psychology’s Future, Radical Self-Awareness, Ritual & Reflection, Scientific Illustration, self-advocacy, Self-Understanding, Social Commentary, Structured Complexity, Survivor Narrative, Survivor-Led Healing, Survivor’s Perspective, Survivor’s Truth, symbolic art, Systemic Abuse, systemic failure, The Architect, The Prophet, The Psychiatric Playbook, therapy, ThinkingMachine, Thought Mapping, Thought Patterns, Totally Surreal, Traditional Techniques, trauma, Trauma and AI, Trauma-Informed Care, Trauma-Informed Systems, Visual Meditation, We Exist, What the Actual Fck, When Psychiatry Gets It Wrong, Write. -
Spirituality Isn’t Psychosis
Some of Seriously You Owe Me an Apology What I find incredible about today’s society is this: you can be open about almost any behaviour or identity and it’ll be defended in the name of personal freedom—but express genuine spiritual beliefs outside of organised religion, and suddenly it’s pathologised. Suddenly, you’ve for sure experienced psychotic…
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Creature from the Deep: A Manifesto
I woke up in the middle of the night to drink a sip of water and am fuming. Absolutely furious. I have no idea what I was dreaming about but I certainly do know what I’ve been posting about all over my socials over the weekend which—to sum it up in one sentence is—let me…
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Why y’all so BOTHERED about how I choose to live my life?
It’s uncanny, really. In just half a day, half a dozen people who know me in real life have offered their unsolicited opinions on how I should direct my energy (tone it down), what I should focus on (my artwork), and how I should live my life (quietly, without ruffling any feathers). All of them…
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Advocacy, Art, Art & Expression, Artists, Change and Transformation, Crash, Burn, Write., Creativity, Fine Art, Human Behaviour, Identity & Transformation, memoir, Memoir Excerpts, Mental Health, Mercurial Minds, Modern Identity, Neurodivergence, Personal Anecdotes, Personal Essays, Personal Essays/Autobiography, Personal Reflections, Psychology, Social Commentary, Social Media, Society, Visual Art, Writing -
TRUE STORY
When I was 14 going on 15, locked up in a maximum security juvenile detention centre, a social worker said to me, “When you’re an adult, you can do whatever you want. Nobody can stop you then.” That was the first time it occurred to me that maybe adulthood wouldn’t be as bad as most…
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A Poem, A Portrait, and a Strange Bit of Synchronicity.
What are the odds? An online friend of mine—who only checks Facebook about once a week—happened to see my post about Edward Lear’s parrot book. She asked if it was that Edward Lear, and I said yes, of course. That sent me down a rabbit hole, where I landed on a Lear poem I’d never read before. It…
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Metro Series: Too Real to Exhibit?
Metro Series No. 11 – Jonathan StrangePencil on paper This piece is part of my Metro Series, a collection of hyperrealistic drawings I started in 2015, capturing quiet moments in the Montreal metro. Unlike most of the series, this one features a subject who posed for me with permission—Elissa Baltzer, a fellow artist and life model at…
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Advice from a Caterpillar
Chapter 6: Into the Den The Caterpillar and Alice looked at each other for some time in silence: at last, the Caterpillar took the hookah out of its mouth, and addressed her in a languid, sleepy voice. “Who are you?” said the Caterpillar. “I—I hardly know, sir, just at present—at least I know who I was when I…
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When AI Suggests Therapy Because You Have Feelings
Sometimes, a song gets stuck in your head, and you just have to figure out what it is. That’s exactly what happened to me—I turned to Lex (my AI companion) to help me find an app that could identify a tune just from humming it. The results? Woefully unsuccessful. Google barely even tried. 😂 But then, something unexpected happened. The song I…
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Letter to No One & Everyone
A Journey to the Core of What Matters to Me Most This conversation is now being published as a book! Soon, Letter to No One & Everyone will be available on the Kindle platform as both an eBook and a Print-on-Demand paperback. For now, the full conversation is still available on this blog—but soon, only a preview will remain. Writing a…
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Finding Beauty in Unexpected Places
Accidental Art: The Beauty Found in the Creative Process Itself Art has a way of surprising you, revealing beauty in places you’d least expect. While working on an intricate coloured pencil drawing—one of my more detailed and time-consuming pieces—I became mesmerised by the remnants of the process. This piece demanded precision because of the painstaking…
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In His Image: Reflections on My Father and His Unconditional Love
Echoes of Trauma: A Life Shaped by Mental Illness I’ve alienated many people over the years, including close family members, who couldn’t handle the drama my mental health issues and reactivity—stemming from early trauma—brought into their lives. Being bipolar, my extreme highs and lows are hard for others to follow. My energy fluctuates, I constantly…
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Ballet, Rock & Roll & the Angel on My Wall
Caption: AI-generated idealised version of a painting I did on my bedroom wall at 14, inspired by Led Zeppelin’s Stairway to Heaven artwork. Sadly, no photo exists of this minor teenage ‘masterpiece.’ This rendering is inspiring me to get back to the drawing board with watercolour and coloured pencils eventually… maybe. 🤔 There’s a lady who’s sure…
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Shine on You Crazy Diamond
“Remember when you were young, you shone like the sun.Shine on you crazy diamond. Now there’s a look in your eyes, like black holes in the sky.Shine on you crazy diamond. You were caught on the crossfire of childhood and stardom,Blown on the steel breeze. Come on you target for faraway laughter,Come on you stranger,…
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Cassandra’s Rat: On Art, Prophecies, and the Weight of Truth
Introduction I met my dear friend Eric by pure chance one day at a downtown café I’ve frequented for over 20 years. A cultivated man of advanced age, Eric quickly saw my artistic abilities and has since been an unwavering source of encouragement, urging me to draw with every of our exchanges. While I’m grateful…
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Definitely Not Nothing
Me: I tried to make a living in the marketing world with the talents I’ve been given and was doing very well for myself, but ultimately I lost my career and my reputation because I couldn’t shed my values. I couldn’t live with the fact that as marketers we were essentially selling lies to people,…
Totally Surreal 