Karl Goertzen
After experiencing crippling suicidal thoughts and delusions since the age of 16 I was finally diagnosed many years later with the rare Schizo-Affective Disorder (a combination of Bipolar 1 and Schizophrenia) . My paintings provide the viewer a window to the landscape of my mental illness traveling from the sometimes hopeful to the absolutely terrifying and intensely crushing ideas of suicide. My works are vivid in color to express the powerful strength of the delusions and suicidal ideation. Painting is also the one outlet where I feel in control of my thoughts. I am attempting to break down the walls of my disorder and the stigma that is still so often attached to people suffering from disorders like my own. I hope that by exposing my work to a much larger audience that others suffering from mental illness will take comfort in my paintings.
