‘Art became my antidote to life’

Born in 2015 the Instagram handle Artidote has become a safe place to express pain explore mental health and heal through art Each illustration is accompanied by words or verse to untangle validate or just witness the turbulence of inner life Heartbreak selfcriticism crushingly low selfworth contributed by a follower And the followers are a legion of over one million Its Mexicoborn founder Jovanny Ferreyra Jova he insists is in Bengaluru currently a city he calls his second home for his Artidote India 2022 Tour in partnership with Paytm Insider and Fastrack The initiative Unwind focuses on making mental health resources easily available to the youth and providing access to free therapy The 34yearold who will cover Mumbai over the weekend took out the time for an interview with Sunday middayEdited excerpts from the interviewHow did your journey beginArtidote began at my rock bottom in the depths of my depression This just proves that some of the best things come out of lifersquos worst moments In 2014 I didnrsquot have the energy to get off my couch or think positive thoughts My job involved running a social media page for an arts magazine in Berlin and I only had enough energy to scroll through social mediaOne of the few things that made me feel something was art Illustrations poetry encouraging messages I felt the need to share and connect and post artworks with quotes hoping they would resonate with someone in the world My messages were about hope heartbreak love grief and lossTo my surprise there were so many people craving a deeper connection Social media has that power a mere Facebook post can change lives When I started receiving contributions and encouraging messages I realised I had the unique opportunity to cultivate a safe space that could make people want to live againHow did you come up with the name lsquoArtidotersquoItrsquos a simple connection between lsquoantidotersquo and lsquoartrsquo Antidote being a substance that heals and art being the thing that I love and touches me deeply Even before I learned the English language art was the main language It was my way to express my innermost feelings when I lacked the language to do so Throughout my teenage years art was my safe space It wasnrsquot until a few years ago that I realised I was using art to heal from bullying to allow myself to feel safe in my own little world where I could invite others Art became my antidote to challenges in everyday life The only criteria to choosing which artworks to post on Instagram is that they should make me feel something Yoursquove said yoursquove wanted to move to India and are actually at a wedding in Goahellip Is that trueI have friends here who are like family It wouldnrsquot be fair if I didnrsquot drop in to say ldquoHirdquo while Irsquom here February 2020 was the last time I was here I was set on moving here to set up local chapters of Artidote The first one was supposed to be in Bengaluru The dream was to revolutionise the mental health space by setting up offline open spaces for the youth to talk about the things they think about the most but talk about the leastI was planning on settling here for a couple of years back in 2020 But now I feel that I am where I am supposed to be Irsquove shifted back to Mexico my homeland I am the happiest I have ever beenJova conducted mental health sessions in Mumbai over the weekendMental health is stigmatised among the older generation in India From your multiple visits here is there something peculiar yoursquove noticedEver since the first trip I have noticed that there is this huge gap in awareness here in India one of the worldrsquos youngest countries Two decades into this new century half of the population has grown up with the internet and is open to global ideas perspectives and concepts but is being brought up by a generation that wasnrsquot exposed to all of this Therersquos a huge gap between being aware of the topics that plague the youth and understanding those topicsYou first toured India in 2018 What difference have you noticed in terms of mental health from then to nowThe sideeffects and ramifications of the pandemic are still felt by many people I have seen changes some for the better and some notThe better changes are that people are sensitised to growth Itrsquos as if the very real possibility of death creates this urge to live expand our wings and make the most out of our lives The notsopositive is the slight variations in our triggers People are prone to be easily triggered emotionally Many people are still recovering from the aftershocks of the pandemic while many have already recovered and risen higherDiscourse on mental health during the pandemic was at its peak As a mental health platform creator how did you feelIt was overwhelming I struggled with my responsibility as a caregiver and as a holder of a safe space both online and offline As the world went into lockdown in March I went into emergency mode and made a list of the people I wanted to be there formdashmy inner circle But I forgot my own wellness After 48 hours of making sure everybody was okay Irsquod collapsed on the bed with a feverThatrsquos when I realised that the most I could do at that time was to double down on taking care of myself To be there for myself It was an awakening for me I was preaching that selfcare is not selfish There is a difference between being selfish and taking care of myselfBut I had to learn it the hard way myselfYou were also part of Deepika Padukonersquos care package on Clubhouse in 2021 How was thatIt was an honour professionally and personally I come from a very small village in Mexico with a population of 2000 The children there donrsquot dream this big I somehow was able to find myself in beautiful places and around beautiful people