Meagan Brown is a Winnipeg artist who has ADHD.

While she makes a living out of her art, she also uses some of her pieces as a way to process the stigmas attached to her neurodivergence. They are now displayed in an exhibition with at Artbeat Studio on Albert Street.

“There were certain times I would have a pretty much finished piece in my hand and look at it and think, ‘Wow, I don’t have the same feelings about some of these things as I did before,'” she said.

One of her pieces is a comic strip-style piece that shows a person hacking away at a pillar of “negative self.”

A piece by Meagan Brown in her exhibition, “Me, We, and ADHD” depicting the negative self-image she developed as someone with ADHD. Jordan Pearn

“It’s really about taking these unbelievably strong core beliefs of negative self that have broken up, and doing the work to chip away at this and turn all this self-hate and negative self-image into self-love. Because every little bit you take off of that negative self-image becomes at least self-acceptance to begin with, and eventually self-love,” she said.

Another piece she did is called Shame Distorts the Self, where negative self-image became negative self-talk.

“I actually realized I developed a tic over the past sort of three or four years of audibly saying, ‘I hate you’ to myself out loud, which is a bit horrifying,” she said.

A part of Meagan Brown’s “Shame Distorts the Self,” created in acknowledgement of a tic she developed. Jordan Pearn

However, working on the piece presented her with a revelation.

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“As I was working on this piece and finishing it, I realized that it is an intrusive thought that has now replaced a more dark, and destructive intrusive thought,” she said.

Executive director of Winnipeg Art Therapists, Kayla Cardinal, says art is an excellent way to work through mental health issues.

“You would be able to notice the deeply buried inner conflicts that you might not be able to verbalize, but rather you can work through them, see them, and then do something with them,” Cardinal said.

Among the perks is that you don’t have to be a particular kind of artist to partake.

“Painting, drawing, sculpting, it could be acting, dance. It would also be visual arts in any shape or for… Any kind of expressive medium to be able to take the internal to externalize it,” she said, adding, better yet, you don’t even need to be an artist to reap the benefits.

“One of my favourite directives to do is something called an energy sketch, where it’s quite literally just scribbling what’s going on internally, putting it out onto the page, using colour, form, shape and just transferring that energy out onto the page.”

Speaking from personal experience, Brown says that transfer of energy is key.

“Silence is Simple,” by Meagan Brown. This piece showcases the things people with ADHD may be asked to consider before they speak. Some are reasonable, others are not, and at times all are far from simple. Jordan Pearn

“The time and the physicality of transferring feelings into something physical… even if it’s hurt… it is right as colour,” she said.

Cardinal said in a time when it can be exceedingly difficult to access mental health services, art therapy may be a more flexible option, with the ability to source out free programming and take work home.

“I wouldn’t necessarily encourage you to be your own art therapist, especially when there’s a lot of free art therapy available for you, whether it’s locally or virtually — it’s there. And I hope that if anything, you reach out just for one session, just to gain more information and say, ‘I’m looking for more information and where can I find more?'”

Artbeat Studio wants to help make therapeutic art experiences accessible for all.

“We provide studio spaces and connections for artists or people with lived mental health experience to have that space to really kind of heal,” said Uyen Pham, the Artbeat Studio’s executive director. “It’s a space where we talk about mental health freely and we encourage all of our artists and our participants to do that as well.”

The non-profit hosts free sessions over the summer, works with organizations like the Victoria Hospital Foundation, and has art in buildings throughout Winnipeg.

By exhibiting her art with the studio, Brown hopes others will take notice.

“I think breaking down the shame and the stigma is really one of the best things right now. Having conversations and getting more people involved.”