The Disorderly Demise of the Cerebral Cortex

A Sculpture Collection Exploring the Human Mind by Julia O’Sullivan

Seven sculptures. Seven mental health experiences. One journey into the complexity of being human.

The Disorderly Demise of the Cerebral Cortex is a collection of contemporary mixed-media sculptures exploring experiences of the human mind that are often hidden from view.

Dementia.

Depression.

Anxiety.

Addiction.

Bipolar Disorder.

Dissociative Identity Disorder.

Schizophrenia.

Seven very different conditions.

Seven heads through which I attempted to make something invisible visible.

The collection grew from personal experiences, the experiences of people close to me and, where I stood outside a condition, extensive research into the experiences of others.

I wasn't trying to create clinical representations.

Nor could I claim to know what it feels like to live inside every one of these minds.

I was approaching them as an artist — listening, researching, observing and then attempting to translate what I discovered into physical form.

 

Where It Began

The journey began with my father's diagnosis of frontal lobe dementia while I was living in New Zealand.

Being thousands of miles away during such a difficult time left me trying to understand what was happening to him from a distance.

Art became one way of doing that.

The first sculpture grew from my attempt to explore dementia, memory and the gradual changes I was witnessing in someone I loved.

But one head led to another question.

And another.

Eventually, what began with my father developed into a three-year exploration of seven very different mental health conditions.

 

Seven Heads. Seven Experiences.

Although every sculpture began from the same human form, each developed its own identity.

Dementia — memory, identity and gradual change.

Depression — what can exist behind the face we show the world.

Anxiety — racing thoughts, fear and the desire for control.

Addiction — seduction, entrapment and the difficult search for escape.

Bipolar Disorder — contrasting emotional worlds existing within one person.

Dissociative Identity Disorder — fragmentation, trauma and survival.

Schizophrenia — perception, hallucination and altered experiences of reality.

But the sculptures were never intended to reduce a person to a diagnosis.

If anything, I wanted to do the opposite.

To look beyond the label and towards the human being experiencing it.

 

Making the Invisible Visible

One of the difficulties with mental health is that so much can remain unseen.

We see a face.

We don't necessarily see what is happening behind it.

That idea became fundamental to the collection.

The Heads allowed me to create an exterior and an interior — two different spaces through which I could explore what is presented to the world and what might remain hidden beneath the surface.

Every sculpture became its own visual language.

Objects.

Paint.

Materials.

Words.

Structures.

Some are uncomfortable.

Some are deeply personal.

Others forced me to confront the limitations of trying to understand an experience that was not my own.

Together, they became my attempt to create conversations around experiences that can be difficult to explain in words.

 

The Artist's Journey

Creating The Disorderly Demise of the Cerebral Cortex took three years.

But making the physical sculptures was only part of that journey.

Behind them were personal stories, research, difficult questions and the challenge of deciding how far an artist can — or should — attempt to represent another person's experience.

That story doesn't belong entirely on this page.

There are two other ways to explore the collection.

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See How The Heads Were Created

Go behind the finished sculptures and follow their physical creation — from the first sketches and wire moulded over my own face to oil painting, experimental woodwork and the final metal supports.

Explore the Creation Gallery — Creating The Heads

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Go Inside The Heads

Discover the personal stories, research and symbolism behind the collection, and why each head became what it did.

Read the Artist Journal — The Disorderly Demise of the Cerebral Cortex

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Explore The Individual Sculptures

Each of the seven Heads also has its own story.

Explore Dementia, Depression, Anxiety, Addiction, Bipolar Disorder, Dissociative Identity Disorder and Schizophrenia individually to discover the finished sculptures and the ideas behind them.

View The Heads Collection

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A Collection for Galleries, Exhibitions and Private Collections

The Disorderly Demise of the Cerebral Cortex was created to be seen, questioned and discussed.

The sculptures can stand as individual works, but together they create a much larger conversation about the complexity of the human mind and the experiences we cannot always see in one another.

For galleries, exhibitions, organisations and collectors, the collection offers something beyond the physical objects themselves.

It asks us to look beyond the face in front of us.