Lafayette resident turns her anxiety into art work

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The West Lafayette Public Library will host a one-man art exhibit for the month of June. The self-taught artist started painting a year ago as part of her therapy ritual. News 18 reports the powerful message behind the striking exhibit.

Lafayette resident Heather Berg was diagnosed with anxiety and panic disorder nearly two years ago.

“Every night before I would go to bed, that’s usually when my mind was racing,” she said.

Berg said she felt isolated and as if negativity swarmed around her, but her therapist suggested an unexpected way to relieve some of her stress.

“During that meditation is when I would think — how would I put that thought into a picture,” said Berg.

For the next 52 weeks, she painted her thoughts onto a canvas. She said art is something she’s always loved but has just recently pursued.

“I felt like I had something to offer the world,” said Berg. “I just didn’t really know what it was.”

She said she didn’t want other people with anxiety to feel the same isolation.

It’s the piece titled “Waiting” that Berg said she identifies with most.

“I’m waiting for the world to accept me,” said Berg. “For the world to not think about mental health in a negative way. I was always so ashamed to tell people, I was afraid to go to the grocery store, or afraid to do anything.”

Her art work is hanging in the West Lafayette Public Library, 208 W. Columbia St., and is free to all who come.

“The library itself is a release and an escape,” said Berg. “You can open a book and you can travel to India, or you can go anywhere; and the same thing with your art, art speaks to everyone differently.”

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