Artists Exploring the Struggles of Mental Health

Using art as a refuge from the emotional isolation she experienced growing up in a restrictive religious community, Sara Riches creates vivid, figurative works that channel the complexities of mental health struggles. Drawing from personal experiences with trauma, resilience, and identity, her mental health art often reflect themes of inner turmoil, spiritual searching, and emotional release. Her use of flowing movement, soulful expressions, and symbolic elements conveys the silent battles many endure, offering viewers a raw yet hopeful exploration of healing and transformation through creativity.

Exploring the emotional highs and lows that come with love and connection, Pride Nyasha creates art that delves into the mental challenges tied to vulnerability and relationships. Through expressive portraits and symbolic storytelling, his work captures the tension between longing, heartbreak, joy, and loss. Highlighting the internal struggles people face when navigating intimacy and trust, Nyasha’s pieces reveal the quiet battles of self-worth, emotional resilience, and the search for acceptance. HIs art becomes a visual diary of how deeply relationships can impact mental and emotional well-being.

Blending linework, abstract forms, and hints of surrealism, Doriana Popa creates deeply emotive pieces that reflect the complexity of internal experiences. Inspired by her own emotional landscape and passion for mental health advocacy, Popa’s art captures the invisible struggles that often go unseen. Her subjects — whether people, animals, or dreamlike scenes — evoke a sense of vulnerability, resilience, and quiet introspection. Through layered textures and expressive detail, Popa invites viewers to explore the nuances of emotional healing and the courage it takes to confront one’s inner world.

Inspired by her lifelong anxiety and fear of expressing her feelings, Victoria Olt’s watercolors feature women and anatomical hearts, often combined with flowers and symbols. Showcasing her subjects in grayscale surrounded by the bright colors of the world, she emphasizes on the numbness of depression and feelings of disconnection people can have despite the vibrancy around them. Revealing what we “hide inside” she uses sorrowful facial expressions and emotional print titles that result in powerful yet vulnerable depictions of mental challenges.

Taking inspiration from all things creative and conveying what he feels as a human being in this world, Madrid-based mental health artist Mario Sanchez Nevado creates digital illustrations of people, nature, and objects that blend fantastical elements with modern symbolism. Highlighting the connection between ourselves, our mental health, and the world around us, he portrays the detrimental effects these emotions have on our bodies. Through striking creations with wounded flesh, surreal settings, and views inside of minds, he brings a level of intensity that makes us stop and think.

Wanting people to wonder about themselves, others, and the world we live in, Deandra Lee’s self-portrait photography features scenes with birds, rain, flowers, and other natural elements. Using herself as the subject, her photos show a surreal interpretation of each emotion. Often incorporating symbolic birds associated with freedom and clouds representing moods, she brings feelings of curiosity and helps people experience what these emotions feel like.

Originally pursuing art as a form of communication after being diagnosed with dyslexia and A.D.D., Jaymie Metz’s colorful digital creations feature medicine, sweet treats, retro signs, and objects. Focusing on pills, their colorful mental health art is full of commentary on medicating in society. Labeling each capsule with a different prescription, they emphasize on the narrative of people buying a way to get happy, looking for a way to get better sleep, or taking something to feel love.