The Psychodynamic Sequence

The working class Midwestern reluctance to truly understand or even accept help for mental illness is no secret, nor is its origins of a particular mystery. The myth of the Protestant by-your-bootstraps mythos pervades across the Rust Belt and beyond, its influence particularly strong in the small town where I grew up. With my lived experience and the stories of my hometown friends as a guide, I crafted my graduate thesis for the Minneapolis College of Art and Design: The Psychodynamic Sequence, a series of performances, installations, and print work outlining the initial mental dysmorphia, shame, paranoia, and anxiety central to the early stages of accessing mental health resources.

This installment of the Sequence is the self-titled print summary of the project, which includes collaged elements, print excerpts of installations, and quoted script elements in a pamphlet format. Designed as a companion to the works ACT and Depersonalization as Escape Behavior, The Psychodynamic Sequence's artist book is a standalone work in its own right.