Anxiety is a part of every human life, and
perhaps it can be endured at times; however,
when it becomes chronic and persistent, it can
lead to despair or even collapse. Some research
suggests that engaging in manual arts is linked to
the brains dopaminergic pathways and results
in anxiety reduction. This project depicts a part
of the anxiety treatment process—a period
when my body would contract like compressed
clay from the intensity of the anxiety. That very
wet soil which, in religious allegory, was the
primordial matter of our creation, and now
softens and takes shape in our hands. The
very same matter that, like a mind and body
under pressure, gets crushed and falls apart.
Atefeh Bagherian
