Art for Mental Health | The Space Between

Hosted by Lifeline's partner Highline, you are invited to come mingle, dine, and enjoy Lifeline's inaugural exhibition of Art for Mental Health: "The Space Between" and share in the conversations, perspectives and discussions with our community on mental health.

Some of the professional artists who donated to the exhibition will be present to talk about their work, and the professional art pieces will be silent auctioned during the night. All additional exhibited community art work can be purchased, with all proceeds going to support Lifeline and the essential work we do in supporting the English-speaking community of China.

Additionally, Highline will be donating 10% of it's F&B proceeds from the event to Lifeline.

Event Details:

When: November 10th, 2021

Time: 6:30-8:30 pm

Where: Highline

6/F, 282 Huaihai Zhong Lu,

near Huangpi Nan Lu

Huangpu District

淮海中路282号雅诗阁公寓6楼,

近黄陂南路

Background

Art for Mental Health is a charity art event hosted by Lifeline and our selected partners in honor of World Mental Health Day. The goal is to raise awareness and destigmatise conversations around mental health as well as raise funds for Lifeline.

With the theme "the space between" we invited everyone - the community and professional artists - inspired by this topic to share their perspective through artistic works.

Our belief at Lifeline is that struggling with our mental health and being in a difficult place in our lives, isn't seen as a negative 'place' or 'place people shouldn't be' or 'should try to get back from'. We believe that these challenging and sometimes very painful experiences are a part of our lives as human beings, and can be accepted and managed with support – our power is in the awareness and acceptance of our mental health – as it is, at any point throughout our life span.

Theme: The Space Between



Based on the idea that the space between feeling stable and experiencing challenges with our mental health, is not a line that we cross but a continuum, and sometimes all of us can experience difficulties and suffer such distress in one or another direction. And at the same time, the space we exist in between feeling more or less stable can be impacted by things that make a real difference to our well-being: the connection between us, being there for each other, sharing what we are experiencing and both showing and allowing compassion for ourselves and others to come forth in our lives.

The theme encompasses the idea that struggling with mental health distress doesn't make a person weak or unwell; that in fact it can happen to anyone and that it is happening to almost everyone at one point in our lives. That is especially true as we are going through a global pandemic that challenges our community and all of us individually in an unprecedented way.

Thank You Artists

We would like to thank everyone who participated in this event and made such generous donations. These powerful artworks will help Lifeline to reach new people and continue important conversations about mental health and wellbeing. Together with these artists, we will be able to raise awareness of, and destigmatize talking about, the everyday struggles, challenges and painful experiences that contribute to our mental health, and to highlight how support can make a difference in managing life's difficulties.

More About the Exhibition

Exactly one month following World Mental Health Awareness Day, this exhibition will showcasethe perspectives of different artists across all ages, backgrounds, art forms and styles. From students who shared their views to professional artists, every piece references its very own "Space Between".

Simone Casati, one of the professional artists who generously donated his work to Lifeline, speaks about how The Space Between is represented in his art piece "See the Unseen":

"See the unseen" wants to emphasize the idea that the space in between or the holes in a non-perfect geometry are not a weakness instead a chance of opening a window into a world that is as vast, beautiful, and mysterious as the universe itself.

Another professional artist who kindly donated to Lifeline is Echo, a Shanghainese artist, whose work "Reborn" is a piece focused towards manifesting love, joy and hope in our world. Echo's and Simone Casati's pieces will both be on display in the exhibition.

All artists brought interesting perspectives to the theme of "Space Between". We received student submissions that showed how the theme and the topic of mental health impacted them personally, particularly in relation to the dichotomy people still experience between appearing to be well while feeling the opposite, and the sense of needing to wear a mask or armour to protect your authentic self. All of the artists allow an insight into their own personal experience, and invite us to explore the same for us. As Richard Feinman, an American artist living in China for 17 years, puts it:

"To describe my painting is a visual essence of my inner self. If I were to rip away my body my soul becomes the reflection and colour of my work expressed in layers of paint and mixed media."

About Highline

Highline is a contemporary American restaurant and cocktail bar from a trio of F&B veterans. The dining: All-day and late night California classics cuisine. The look: mid-century Miami-fornia minimalist chic sunken living room.The price points: Cocktails from 68rmb to 128rmb. All the hospitality but none of the hotel service charge. The minds behind it are John Liu (Coquille, Scarpetta), Cody Allen (Le Baron),and Michael Sun.