Alex Betts - Us [Copic Markers]

Type of Media
Drawing/Painting/Printmaking

Artist Statement
Art has always been my escape from all of this. No matter what, you can create your own happy place and your own people. I always carry a small sketchbook and drawing utensils.

Bio
I am 19, dealing with an adopted younger brother, who was thought to have been shaken in his youth. This has thought to be the reason he had a MASSIVE tumor In his head. I was 4 years older than him and to this day it creates a separation between us. It started, great. We played games and had all the fun a child could have. However, when I made a friend in kindergarten, I stopped playing with him altogether. My friend ended being my best friend. We did everything together. This, at the time, was fine for me.

However, thinking about it now, it probably made him feel alone and rejected. From then on, he has had several surgeries in order to fix his craniopharyngioma which has far worse. Everything that is said is an insult to him, he cannot stop eating, and, worst of all, he is prone to anger. In this anger, you, say the wrong thing, something gets thrown across the room, he (a teen of around 200 lbs.) lunges at you. There are plenty of instances where something is thought to be broken, and my Father has had to restrain him more than once. His calming words to me were, “when I retire soon I will always be here to protect you and your mother”.

My parents also like to get me out of the house whenever they can (right now it is kind of hard). Several of my relatives and friends of everyone are offering to keep me over. The one visit I traveled between 3 homes before getting back. Everyone is worried about my safety and health as I also have some serious conditions. It is very hard to keep both of us in a stable condition. I am in far better condition, my parents are simply worried about my mental health. Which, I have said allows you to create your own worlds and characters. It grounds me, keeping me in my own world, with the several characters and the story that they create around them.