auburnartgallery
Hide and Seek, 2021
Photographer: Jade Butay, jadebutayphotography.com (@jadebutay on Instagram)
$75 for 8x8 print
"She had been so misguided
Believing that if she ran into the light
The shadows would disappear into nothing
But they had only grown stronger
And she had left them unattended for too long
They crept around the corners of her new peaceful world
Waiting for a moment to hold her close
And remind her of her place in the darkness
They were lonely
And she was too
She had grown to realize over time
That the peace of basking in the light
Came at much too heavy a price
I found out pretty early my comfort and expression came for me in the form of storytelling. My pain and suffering turned into stories about someone else. I’d write poetry using “she” or “her” to refer to me. I wanted to remove myself from it altogether and look at the story from a narrator’s perspective. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18 and ignored it for three years, letting it spiral my life out of control and lead to a nervous breakdown. Talking about it through my art has made all the difference. But I have never been able to do it head-on. My pain comes in the form of fairy tales; my heartache reads like a storybook. I get to choose when and where I show my emotional scars. I feel like my bipolar disorder has affected my life in every way. The blurred line of where regular emotions end and mania or depression begin have left me wondering if I will truly ever know what normal happiness is. But I think in struggles we learn to adjust. The poem I wrote above I created to talk about balance. I thought once I was put on medication I would be “fixed” but I realize I don’t have a base level to even know if I have been. This poem for me represents a reminder of balance. Someone can try to focus only on the good and the “light” in their life, but ignoring their pain only leads to it growing later on. There is no light without darkness. The trick is to learn to balance the two. It’s something I can’t quite say I’ve mastered just yet but I strive every day to even it up a little more."
Artist Bio: Jade’s work through expressive self-portraiture strives to explain how you can assemble your own sanctuary created to house your worries and fears when, in a way, nothing else has aided you. She uses a mixture of compositing and digital photography paired with painterly textures and intricate storytelling to create an alternate reality to the mundane. She has been very active in the art community since 2018 and is currently completing her second major series of work while finishing her degree in fine art and digital photography.
Hide and Seek, 2021
Photographer: Jade Butay, jadebutayphotography.com (@jadebutay on Instagram)
$75 for 8x8 print
"She had been so misguided
Believing that if she ran into the light
The shadows would disappear into nothing
But they had only grown stronger
And she had left them unattended for too long
They crept around the corners of her new peaceful world
Waiting for a moment to hold her close
And remind her of her place in the darkness
They were lonely
And she was too
She had grown to realize over time
That the peace of basking in the light
Came at much too heavy a price
I found out pretty early my comfort and expression came for me in the form of storytelling. My pain and suffering turned into stories about someone else. I’d write poetry using “she” or “her” to refer to me. I wanted to remove myself from it altogether and look at the story from a narrator’s perspective. I was diagnosed with bipolar disorder at 18 and ignored it for three years, letting it spiral my life out of control and lead to a nervous breakdown. Talking about it through my art has made all the difference. But I have never been able to do it head-on. My pain comes in the form of fairy tales; my heartache reads like a storybook. I get to choose when and where I show my emotional scars. I feel like my bipolar disorder has affected my life in every way. The blurred line of where regular emotions end and mania or depression begin have left me wondering if I will truly ever know what normal happiness is. But I think in struggles we learn to adjust. The poem I wrote above I created to talk about balance. I thought once I was put on medication I would be “fixed” but I realize I don’t have a base level to even know if I have been. This poem for me represents a reminder of balance. Someone can try to focus only on the good and the “light” in their life, but ignoring their pain only leads to it growing later on. There is no light without darkness. The trick is to learn to balance the two. It’s something I can’t quite say I’ve mastered just yet but I strive every day to even it up a little more."
Artist Bio: Jade’s work through expressive self-portraiture strives to explain how you can assemble your own sanctuary created to house your worries and fears when, in a way, nothing else has aided you. She uses a mixture of compositing and digital photography paired with painterly textures and intricate storytelling to create an alternate reality to the mundane. She has been very active in the art community since 2018 and is currently completing her second major series of work while finishing her degree in fine art and digital photography.