Tasha Neumann

My sustained investigation focuses on my experience dealing with dissociation. Dissociation is the feeling that the things in a person’s environment are not real or that they themselves are not real, as if in a dream. Over the past year, I’ve questioned why I never dealt with this before and how I can process it now.

To represent my experience, I prefer using vivid colors not often seen in the natural world. This is to emphasize the idea that the things around me do not feel real. Image 1 is the representation of separation from reality. The item being held appears to be on another plane of existence. Images 2-5 demonstrate the idea of how familiar faces become almost unrecognizable. The last three of these show the revision and completion process of this piece to better describe the impacts others can have on dissociation. Image 6 represents a lack of motivation and feeling trapped as a result; having to watch the world as it moves by. Images 7-9 are the planning of a piece on emotional detachment. Natural objects are replaced by squares in a monochrome world so that one thing cannot be discerned from another. Image 10 is the outline of a failed piece; what worked and what didn’t.