Not Losing My Fun

(SERIES IN PROGRESS)

My teenaged daughter is terrified of growing up. At 15, her body and her life are changing, and she laments it, and actively resists it. She wants to return to the simplicity of childhood, to be carefree and immersed in fantasy forever. A dreamer, a creator and an extremely prolific artist, she tells me, “Adults lose their fun. I’m not losing my fun.”

A documentation of her art and her creative process, “Not Losing My Fun” considers the role that anxiety plays in fueling creativity. Diagnosed with generalized anxiety disorder, autism, and ADHD, my daughter has been producing art as a means of exercising control over her environment, constructing an imaginary world, and processing difficult aspects of her reality.

Interwoven with fashion and fantasy in her art is fear, uncertainty, and references to teen issues. As her life and body change, art remains a safe place to explore and work through her anxieties. “Not Losing My Fun” documents the work of a young artist, and also affirms that creative self-expression has the transformative power to help manage and move through anxiety —by simply accepting and expressing it.