MERAKI: Overwhelmed

This piece is an expression of the overwhelmed mind, surrendering into a state of paralysis by the overflow of chaotic and negative information, uncertainty, and intense emotions. Oftentimes, people socially withdraw when they are overwhelmed, the symptoms of their burnout hidden in plain sight as they quietly sink and slowly drown.

In this painting we see a ladder used to represent the illusion of an escape, while the source of chaos continues to flow with toxicity, our own vessels are left empty and drained, because our human minds would rather exhaust itself with illusions and distractions just to stay afloat, than focus on solutions.

Medium: Hand-drawn digital painting created on Adobe Photoshop