Rationale

For this project I decided to make a painting based on “The Devil in Silver”, with the
thematic message being injustices in the mental healthcare system. This painting was made
simplistic and can be interpreted in any way a person sees it. I chose to include the animal that is
known to represent the devil, a goat who is obviously seriously injured but is still being forced to
take his medicine which will improve nothing since he is already dead. The mental healthcare
system does not seem to actually care for the mental health of others, they go to the extremes for
treatments that make their illness even worse

I included a person that doesn’t necessarily look like an actual human being on the right, I was trying to make the person look like what I can imagine what is left of an actual person in a mental health institution with terrible conditions. The person has no arms or legs, it’s facial features seem to be melting and are barely visible. It’s just a bloody face which is bleeding all the way down to the floor. Blood has always been depicted in art, from cavemen’s hunts, to medieval altarpieces and battle scenes, to modern film and photography. Blood is able to simultaneously represent both life and death, the sacred and profane, violence and martyrdom, disease and healing, purity and impurity. 

Goat meanings and symbolism include sure-footedness, desire, creative energy, revelry, tranquility, aspiration, and faith. The goat was the first domesticated animal. Thus, people from a wide range of cultures are familiar with goats. I made the room a white grayish color to give off the effect that it’s empty, cold, and lonely, which is what I can imagine being in solitary confinement is like. Apparently, many mental hospitals have something called a quiet room. The quiet room is an isolation room at the mental hospital. The staff uses it to separate one patient from the rest. The purposes are to keep this person safe, to keep others safe, to reduce the amount of stimulation the patient receives, or at the patient’s request.

New safety standards aimed at limiting suicide risks have led to overhauls inside hospitals around the country, with psychiatric facilities and wards removing bathroom doors, stripping artwork from walls and requiring patients to wear paper gowns instead of their own clothes.