Depression and Art: Two Artists. Two Stories. One Panel

Depression isn’t something we talk about regularly, yet an estimated 1 in every 10 adults in the United States reports suffering from some form of the illness. Knowing that, it is easy to see how many artists may have suffered from depression at some point in their lives and often that is what pushed them to find their muse. However, the illness is still largely misunderstood. It is difficult for some to understand how the death of a distant relative could have caused someone to spiral into depression, or how the loss of a job didn’t motivate your friend to find a new one but rather pushed them deep into the illness.

It is important to remember that just because you might not see something as being emotionally difficult doesn’t mean that you have room to say that it isn’t a huge factor in someone else’s life. Often, we can’t understand other people’s relationships, we don’t know the story of their past and we are unaware of other factors happening in their current lives that impact their emotional well being. With that, we don’t maintain the right to say what “should” and “should not” constitute depression. Insert artists Ryan Brunty (Depressed Monsters) and Juan Muniz (Felipe the Bunny) here. Last weekend at Designer Con in Pasadena, CA these two Vegas-based artists sat down with panel moderator Paco Alvarez (Art Curator for Zappos) and delved into the issue of depression and the impact that the illness has had on them as individuals as well as artists. The panel wast entitled “Depression in the Arts: A Character Study.”

In a very intense panel, Juan revealed to the crowd something he had never told anyone before: the miscarriage his mother experienced nearly 9 months into her pregnancy was his fault. Being a five year old and an only child, Juan experienced significant jealousy towards the attention his new brother was already receiving. In a fit one day, he yelled at his mother “why don’t you love me and pay attention to me any more,” and he then drop kicked her in the stomach. After he spoke of this, the emotion in the room was pungent. Juan broke into tears, various members of his audience did as well. At this point both artists were comfortable enough speaking directly to one another and the crowd and Paco was able to simply allow the conversation to flow naturally. Juan explained how this traumatic experience impacted him growing up, how his family never really supported him being an artist. Even so, art became very important to him because Felipe is in fact Juan’s rendition of his lost brother. He continues to draw his character so that his brother can live on.

Ryan’s depression began with a death as well, as depression often will. A few years ago, after the death of his grandfather, Ryan slipped into a depressed state, feeling alone, sad and excluded. He found himself living in his house in silence and discomfort. Finally, after a few months he began doodling Yerman the Yeti. He had no idea what an important role this character was going to play for him in the months to come. Ryan also spoke about cyber bullying and the impact bullying had on him as a child. He explained that because of the society we now live in and the vastness of the Internet, cyber bullying is in fact worse that what we may have experienced as kids.

After both men finished with their stories, the overlying message was clear without even needing to be said.

Find your muse.

Find what makes you happy, what fulfills you, what gets you up in the morning, and hold on to it. Regardless of what anyone else has to say about it, fight to grow and develop within your art and never let it go. People aren’t always going to understand or appreciate what you have to offer, but outside acceptance isn’t what matters. Allowing yourself to express your inner thoughts and emotions and get them off your mind is priceless. You don’t even ever have to show anyone what you’ve created.

Both men held that art is what saved them and as an artist myself I can attest to this as well. I can’t begin to imagine the bravery it must have taken both of these men to sit in front of an audience and reveal some of their deepest held secrets. What I can say is that these two will continue to inspire us with their incredible creations, and now each piece can mean a little more to each of us because we know the story behind the creator. I want to extend a deep thank you to Juan and Ryan, as well as Paco for such an eye-opening panel. You’ve inspired us for years, but now you’ve shown us all what it takes to express our emotions through our art and how important an outlet can be.