Department of Fine and Performing Arts

Derreq Player

Serenity in View

Thesis Statement

derreq playerTheme: The theme for my senior exhibition is clarity of the mind. Using controlled breathing and guided meditation to help overcome anxiety, overthinking, and generally “living in your head”, this series will help guide others who may need it to find some sort of peace and calm within themselves.

Research: Stated by the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the percentage of adults in the U.S. with symptoms of an anxiety or depressive disorder increased from 36.4% to 41.5% during August 2020 - February 2021. Most of which occurred amongst adults 18-29 years old. Learning on a first-hand basis of the vast number of people who never report these symptoms, the majority of which are Black men. Not to mention the growing number of mental health disorders found in children between 13 and 18 years old.

Surviving a deadly pandemic, loss of loved ones, and drastic changes in lifestyle for years now has had a toll on mental health plus tax. As this continues, the percentages stated earlier will undoubtedly increase, but will continue to be wrong. Those are just the reported cases.

Concept: The concept for my senior exhibition is to create a guided meditation space. Through a virtual exhibition, I will provide digital paintings and an accompanying meditation audio for the viewer to begin separating themselves from their mind.

Plan: Going through my own journey of mental health and what works best for me, I plan to bring to life how I’m able to overcome some of my own challenges. The link provided will take you to one of the guided meditations that helped inspire this show. Clear Your Mind From Overthinking (Guided Meditation)

Photos - Through my meditation, I often drift away to a few places, which can be considered “happy places” to some, and have created a solid image of them. They act as a grounding factor, becoming the first image I go to when symptoms of mental health disorders start to appear. As some of these are real places to me, I will go out and photograph my original reference points and create a minimalist visual for the audience to begin their journey.

Audio - What you hear plays a huge role in what your mind receives and feeds back to you. Through my guided meditations, a soothing instrumental is played in the background of a calming narration of guided breathing. I plan to create a general guided audio for listeners to follow as they view the digital paintings provided or whatever they may visualize while listening. This is not catered to any one person or type of mental health issue so that anyone can reap the benefits from this.

Budget: I have the means of my own to create all pieces for this exhibition. Because this year’s show will be virtual, no additional purchases will be necessary unless the series of images still need to be printed and presented.

Create: The series of images as well as the audio piece has been completed and approved. Below is the process from sketch/original reference to the finished image.

Promote: My show will first be advertised through messaging to family ones and those who are close to me. In addition, social media will play a huge factor. I plan to create promotional posters/posts and interactive posts to keep people engaged and excited for the exhibition. Through my freelance career as a photographer, I can reach out to previous and current clients who I’ve built some form of relationship with. Lastly, word of mouth with people I meet through my daily life could never hurt.

  • In 2021, the percentage of adults in the U.S. between 18-29 years of age with symptoms of mental health disorders increased from 36% to 42%. As one of the many unreported cases, I’ve come to learn over the years that the percentage will always be on the low end, especially with young Black men being a factor. During my lowest times in the past few years, there has consistently been one coping technique that shows immediate results, at least for me. Guided meditation and truly focusing on my breathing became my answer for any mental health obstacles that I have and continue to face. 

    This project is for both individuals who are conscious and those who are unconscious of any mental health disorder they may have. Although I can’t guarantee that this will do the same for others, my goal is simply to provide it to an audience that generally does not get the necessary help. Titled “Serenity In View”, this series consists of 10 digital images and a 4-minute audio piece to follow along with. With no clear representation of any one place in particular, I first created minimalist drawings through Adobe illustrator, but something was still missing. It didn’t feel believable until I was able to render painting textures to the images using photoshop, giving it more life. These 10 digital paintings serve as a starting point to separate our daily clutter of thoughts with the journey about to take place; something to focus on first when beginning the guided meditation. Largely inspired by the same meditations I’ve used in the past, the accompanied audio piece serves as a general guide to controlled breathing, reground yourself, and clear your mind. I provided this to be taken outside of the exhibition and applied to our daily lives. As long as you are able to breathe, you are able to gain peace and clarity of mind.

Guided Meditation: Serenity In View by Derreq Player from DFPA | Bowie State University on Vimeo.