Mission
Mental illness, at its worst, can be one of the scariest things imaginable. Mental illness, at its best, can allow you to see the world in a new, electrifying way. In the same breath I can think “it’s impossible” and “I’m possible”. I’ve manufactured a world inside my mind that allows me to play judge, jury, and executioner over a small dinosaur shaped nugget. The conglomeration of soybeans, corn-based binders, and some other by-product turned marketable products smashed into the metal molds of the factory press.
I M | P O S S I B L E
I M | P O S S I B L E
The Face of Mental Illness is a project interested in investigating the identities, personhood, and representation of individuals with mental illness or who identify as neurodivergent by retaking agency in our own narratives.
The Face of Mental Illness Project allows neurodivergent people to have agency in their own narratives by reproducing the likenesses of neurodivergent and mentally ill people through images and other forms of media they've provided. At this time over 100 people have submitted responses to the project; each submission is individually assessed for quality and legitimacy because submissions are anonymous.
This is a small, one-person project created by Shannon Binns (CC ‘23) as a final project for a Spring 2022 course. I’m a queer FGLI student with my own fair share of mental illnesses. I would love to continue working on this project after submission to work on publishing and expanding results. This is not a complete work and is instead a stepping stone towards a larger project which can aid both professionals and mentally ill people alike.