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International portrait painter Toby Brown is calling on individuals from across the Middle East to join his new art project that aims to draw attention to mental health.
The British 48-year-old self-taught artist-turned-professional has gone on Instagram in search of people suffering from different mental health conditions to give them a voice in his third ‘Behind the Smile’ campaign.
And while he has subjects ready to share their stories from the UK, Australia and the US, he would love to feature those struggling in Bahrain.
“Problems are rising due to isolation especially in this pandemic,” he said.
“I want to show people what goes on behind the ‘false smiles’ because people often hide their mental illness behind a smile.”
His first ‘Behind the Smile’ show was in London’s Notting Hill in 2016 and his second was in Camden in September 2020. Both were in aid of mental illness charities in the UK.
“I want ‘Behind the Smile’ to be a global project to get people talking openly about mental illness all over the world,” he added.
In Bahrain, there are many struggling with depression and anxiety.
Psychologist Mariam Alammadi, who is the founder of the Child & Family Foundation Centre and general secretary of the Middle East Psychological Association, said: “Toby helping to break the stigma in the Middle East, particularly in regions like Bahrain, is very important.
“When people ask me about mental health and visiting a therapist, I liken it to a physical check-up.
“Your mental well-being is just as important. It plays a role in every single thing you do and too many people suffer in silence in fear of being judged or discriminated against.
“It is definitely something Bahrainis and expats suffer from and we are addressing it even more now than in the past.”
Since the outbreak of Covid-19, the centre has been busy with an increase of 34 to 40 per cent more patients.
She added: “However, we have been relatively lucky in Bahrain as we didn’t have a complete lockdown so people are not struggling as much as they are in some other countries.
“A lot more people are losing their jobs and feeling a loss of identity. Online learning is a struggle for a lot of people and some students are losing confidence in their abilities.
“We have also been dealing with anger and frustration from those who have been separated from families. Some have lost loved ones during the pandemic and are struggling with aspects of guilt for losing loved ones or passing it onto other family members. So it has honestly been a full circle in the way it has affected everyone.”
According to the World Health Organisation, depression is a common mental disorder and one of the main causes of disability worldwide with an estimated 264 million people affected by it.
Around 45 million people worldwide are bipolar and approximately 50 million have dementia. Meanwhile, 20 million people worldwide, including Toby, are affected by schizophrenia which is characterised by distortions in thinking, perception, emotions, language, sense of self and behaviour.
Toby, who once worked in his family business as a motorcycle courier delivering parcels all over London, suffered from a mental breakdown in 2008 and was hospitalised after being sectioned under the mental health act. He lost his job and became homeless. He then lived in an old caravan for a year where he started to paint.
“When I came out of the hospital, I didn’t have the words to describe what I was going through on a daily basis with my illness so I painted what I went through,” he explained. “My family didn’t understand and they thought it was just a phase I was going through but paranoid schizophrenia is a life long illness and I just wanted my family to understand.
“It took three self-portraits to show them and now, thankfully, they understand.”
He uses only three colours in his ‘realistic art with a twist’ to show the pain of mental health. The oil colours are Payne’s grey, titanium white and phthalo blue.
He uses large brushes, with a scrubbing motion rather than painting, and his fingers to blend to get the effects he is after.
To create his moving pieces, Toby gets people talking openly about their mental health struggles which can be difficult to do. He added: “It’s hard for men to admit to having mental health problems but they have no problems once I start chatting about it.”
Toby would love for his project to be featured in galleries around the world. For now, he is working to have it exhibited in May 2022 at the Camden Image Gallery during Mental Health Awareness Week.
It will be a joint show with his friend, abstract portrait artist Gina Teslaru, who also uses art as therapy because she suffers from anxiety and depression. Toby will be painting a portrait of her too to include in the show.
Those interested in joining the campaign can email toby@tobybrownartist.com or follow @tobybrownartist on Instagram.
