By Masiel Bry
I will start by introducing myself. My name is Masiel Bry and I am a mentally ill visual artist from the Bronx, New York City. Throughout the years creating art has been my therapy. It's given me something to look forward to. Being mentally ill is a chore of its own. I have to take medications I have to be on top of on a daily basis. I have bipolar disorder, depression, anxiety, dermatillomania and obsessive compulsive disorder, so I am on A LOT of medications. It is my dream to open up my own art gallery but my journey as an artist hasn't been an easy one.
Having art in my life has given me something to look forward to, and something I can use to express myself. I love making fun vibrant eclectic art pieces. Making the actual art is awesome but my lack of sales and the fact I don't make any money as an artist has made me question my talent and honestly want to give up. I work so hard every single day and it feels like no matter what I do no one seems to care.
Because I am literally starting from the bottom, I am the artist, the jewelry maker, the promoter, the merch creator, and I made the website from scratch and have to constantly keep it updated. At the moment I promote on tik tok, Youtube, Instagram and Facebook but despite how hard I work I haven't made any sales. It's hard to have such big dreams and work so hard day in and day out and it doesn't seem to be going anywhere.
I hit a point where for my sanity I thought I should just move on and give up on my dreams. But I took a step back and realized how much I love art, and what a positive impact it has had on my mental health. It hasn't led to any profit yet, but it makes me happy. I will never give up!
