the portfolio of

Gayle Lieberenz

Print & Narrative Forms Major
University of Wisconsin - Milwaukee

• about
• a parade of colors
• digital art
• printmaking
• in progress

We are, as people, made up of our past experiences, and I am no different. An individual's mental health is a large part of who they are and how they function, and having a mental illness (or multiple) can be debilitating, affecting every area of our lives in both negative and positive ways. I’ve struggled with horrible mental health and illness my entire life, and through an immense amount of healing and therapy I’ve grown into a person that I admire, and I am proud of who I am and how far I’ve come in my journey. I know I’m not the only one with these experiences and these struggles, and I’ve made it my goal as an artist to create pieces that not only raise awareness for these issues in the general public but also encourage those who struggle with mental health to seek help and make the difficult decision to start healing.

In the spring semester of my Freshman year of college, my entire life as I knew it plummeted to a new low. I had completely disconnected with the reality around me, and I was hurtling through an endless darkness, and I seemingly knew for certain that my life would end soon, and at my own hands. This was the darkest time of my life. However, through the help of my closest friends and my family, I managed to hang on just long enough to get the help I needed, and I finally made the decision to start healing. I attended intensive therapy with a specialist for just over a year, devoting my entire life to bettering myself and recovering from my mental disorders. It was absolutely exhausting. There were times where I doubted that this was worth it, that it didn’t matter how hard I tried, that I would never really “get better”. But I did. Through hard work, sweat, and tears, I’m now more mentally stable than I have ever been in my entire life.

It was then that I realized how incredibly hard my life was, and that I wasn’t the only one. Although everyone’s experience with this subject is different, it also connects us in an incredibly human way, and we can all connect with one another through these experiences. Every person we meet and every encounter we have, no matter how small, has an effect on us. I wish to use my art to give everyone a different perspective on life. I also want to use my abilities and talents to reach out to others that have struggled, and are struggling, in the same way I have. I want to help them realize that having a mental illness does not promise an endless battle with darkness, doubt, and fear. That there is always hope for a better future, and that it is up to us, and only us, to not only grasp but create the opportunity for growth