Matilda

How did you start making art that empowers people?

After a long battle with my mental health, I realized I needed an outlet to express my emotions, as well as a way to make sense of my mental illnesses. i started drawing and writing about my experiences, and i felt a lot of empowerment from talking about things i was taught were taboo. When i started receiving messages from other people feeling the same way as me, it fueled my fire further. It all started as something i did for myself, but it grew into something i am now doing for other people too - and i love making other people feel seen, heard, and validated.

What do you do to self-care?

It depends on my needs in the moment. If I have energy i love doing chores like cleaning, and cooking. If not, I’d rather lay in bed with my boyfriend and watch a silly movie. Socializing is a huge self care tool, being surrounded with my friends and just chatting with them always boosts my mood. Acrylic painting and journaling is amazing for untangling difficult thoughts and feelings. I think my ultimate self care habit is therapy, i have been in therapy for almost eight years now and it has saved my life again and again; by helping me understand myself and teaching me techniques and tools for coping.