This exhibition addresses the complexity of mental health as it coincides with the environment and more specifically, environmental degradation. Furthermore, the question I sought to address through my research is how printmaking and the visual arts can bring awareness to environmental degradation and mental health.

  In my own challenges with severe anxiety, depression, and grief, I saw this research project as a way to bring many of my current stresses to life. What research means to me is visualizing the issues that plague us both individually and collectively. My hope is that these issues can reach a wider audience, both within and beyond the academy to bring awareness to challenges we face.

  This research project was initially inspired by Professor Heather Leier and accompanying Albertan printmakers, Sean Caulfield, Jill Ho-You, Kiona Ligtvoet, Jewel Shaw, Sue Colberg and Tara Manyfingers, in an exhibition titled Transitional Impressions. Transitional Impressions aimed to address how printmaking and other forms of visual art can help bring awareness to environmental degradation.

   I was lucky enough to receive one of the many awards given out by the University of Calgary’s PURE awards committee. The PURE awards fund undergraduate students’ research over a 2–4-month period. With this opportunity, Professor Heather Leier invited me along to help assist her with the Transitional Impressions exhibition whilst creating my own work in the hopes to have a solo exhibition.