Uncharted Territory: Anatomy of a Natural Disaster

One in four adults will suffer from depression or other psychological disorders in their lifetime, yet these illnesses remain among our most misunderstood health issues. In Uncharted Territory I draw a parallel between these events and the experience of a natural disaster, when the environment becomes inhospitable beyond our control. The devastation of a home disrupts our ability to carry on with life as usual, and replaces an assumed security with the helpless feeling of being controlled by unseen forces. Our psychological environment is similarly subject to fault lines and erosive conditions. The constructed settings of the images reference both the natural world and the anatomical structures and chemical pathways of the brain. This offers a different context in which to consider mental health issues and reminds us that systems of the mind and body are as resistant to the force of our will as the environment in which we live.