“I despise the term ‘mentally ill’; it implies that who I am as a person is fundamentally corrupted and broken.”

Kate is an 18 year-old artist who was diagnosed with schizophrenia at the age of 17. She is open about the reality she lives in, even though she finds people often freely apply labels to who she is. Thus, Kate’s art is both a way of sharing her visions and hallucinations caused by her schizophrenia as well as challenging the stereotypes and stigmas that people erroneously associate with who she is.

While you scroll through Kate’s art, you’ll probably think to yourself, “Wow, that’s fucking cool illustration” – just keep in mind these illustrations mirror the very real and very intense visions Kate has chosen to share with the public. They are extensions of how she feels and what she sees. Kate’s art is not only brave and bold, but it is an invitation to better understand the vicious struggle roughly 51 million people worldwide deal with. We hope you enjoy her work and encourage you to view her complete collection on Instagram or a series of selected illustrations on Bored Panda.