This piece is inspired by the waves of deep sadness and depression I felt when I was a teenager and still feel as a mid-life adult. I visualise this sadness as a thick black tar-like substance covering everything joyful and positive within myself, represented by the black rubber paint. I’ve chosen to use silver and black metals to give a sense of the cold, hard isolation of depression.

Music really helps me process these strong feelings and move through them towards more positive feelings, and I play certain songs on repeat during bouts of sadness. I especially relate to songs which have a lot of emotional pain within their lyrics, and they are all songs I discovered in my adolescence. I have hand embossed the lyrics I connect with most from these songs onto the aluminium.