Bareket Kezwer, Toronto, Ontario
Artist statement: As a recovering perfectionist, I can't count how many times I've been paralyzed by the fear of creating something not good enough, only to create nothing at all. For a long time, the anxiety I felt about the possibility of failure prevented me from trying new things and kept me small. As I continue along my healing journey, I remind myself daily that to make mistakes is to be human. To fail, is to be human. To be messy is to be human.
If you can relate, I invite you to remember that growth requires engaging with the unknown — and most likely, we're going to make a lot of mistakes the first time we try something new.
Cultivating the courage to be imperfect and the vulnerability to share my in-process, evolving self through my art continues to be a source of immense healing. I won't pretend that I don't still have days where it feels almost unbearable to share new work, but the rewards of letting go of the need to be perceived as perfect and shifting my energy towards learning, playing, and forming connected and reciprocal relationships continues to show me that it's worth to reclaim the wholeness of my being.
This mural was a beautiful reminder that there's magic in the messiness; letting the process be messy can be its own kind of healing. Huge thanks to @youarenotalonemurals for creating this initiative to raise awareness about our shared need to care for our mental health and for supporting the creation of so many murals that share hopeful reminders that wherever you are on your healing journey, you are not alone. You don't have to go at it alone, you were never meant to.
Bareket Kezwer is a muralist, community engaged artist and facilitator, poet, collage enthusiast, curator, cultural producer, creative director, graphic designer, mentor, frequent collaborator and eternal optimist.
Their multidisciplinary practice is motivated by a desire to playfully celebrate the power of kindness, curiosity, and compassion and cultivate individual and collective gratitude. They use bright colours, joyful patterns and bold typography to captivate people’s attention, ground them in the present moment, and fill them with a sense of belonging or delight. They passionately create art that promotes radical self love and acceptance and use colour as medicine towards the goal of collective healing.
Recently, they have been bringing lessons from their love of gardening into their art. They feel nourished when they are able to share teachings from their plant and fungi friends that encourage people to cultivate a reciprocal relationship with the natural world. Through facilitating community engaged art, and curating and producing collaborative murals, they work to engage people through creativity while supporting the growth of inclusive and connected communities.