Overstimulated? Artist pictures her brain with cacophony of colours
'With this artwork, I want to give the audience a glance into my overstimulated brain and that of other people with autism', says Jasmijn den Hoed. The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences is exhibiting her artwork 'Overstimulated' in the restaurant near the blue wall during Autism Week 25 March to 2 April.
'All materials used in the artwork have a different meaning, which I would like to walk you through and explain more about it or which you can read in my Instagram posts', Jasmijn den Hoed adds.
'I started this art project during one of my hospitalizations where I followed treatment for my autism and other psychological problems. This artwork depicts a OvErPRíkKeLd [overstimulated] brain of people with autism. When you look at the artwork you see a lot of chaos, colors, details, shapes, incorrect or unfitting pieces, structures, and techniques. These visualize all stimuli and information that enter the brain every day. Because the number of stimuli and the amount of information are so much, people with autism can quickly become OvErPRíkKeLd.'
'Perhaps this artwork comes to you very intensely because of the many stimuli brought by the bright colors, structures, and shapes. That's how intense all stimuli and information often come to me and to many people with autism. As a result, we often experience the world as a big, scary, unclear, busy, and angry world. Because not all information can be processed equally quickly and immediately, and new information often follows, you can perhaps imagine that I quickly lose the overview and become OvErPRíkKeLd, just like how you may become a bit overstimulated when looking at this artwork. With my artwork I hope to give you a little experience of what this feels like, so that there is more understanding of overstimulation in autism. Maybe you also have autism and you recognize yourself in this, or you know someone with autism and you want to understand them better, I hope this art project can help with that.'
Banner: Jasmijn den Hoed next to "OvErPRíkKeLd”