#MentalHealthWeek: Artist Joe Caslin, On Humanising The Conversation Around Mental Health

Joe Caslin is the street artist who painted the landmark murals supporting same sex marriage, on the run-up to the referendum in 2015. For his latest public art project, he has produced the powerful “Volunteers” murals, which have shot up on some of Dublin’s most iconic buildings recently.

His latest installation is at the National Museum of Ireland. The painting sets out to “humanise the narratives around mental health.” It is, needless to say, an extremely worthwhile objective.

“Sometimes when you talk about the big social problems of the day, you forget about the human aspects. You forget that it’s humans going through this,” he reflects.“That’s something that concerns me. If you look at this new drawing, there is one person looking to be comforted and there’s another person doing the comforting. I wanted to make these real people, to make that human aspect felt.”

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And indeed they are real people, with whose stories Joe is familiar. “The man on the left is Cormac Coffey, a 20-year old Kerry Gaelic player who was best friends with a young man named Donal Walsh, who sadly passed away from cancer when the lads were teenagers. Cormac has been outspoken about the preciousness of life, which was why I chose him as the person who gave the support. He really is strong figure in his community and gives back to the people around him.

“The other person is Éanna Walsh. I came across Éanna a few years ago when I learned that he had been diagnosed with bipolar disorder but was managing his illness through medication and exercise. He has undertaken a programme called ‘Bareknuckling Bipolar’. And in that, he talked quite loudly about mental health and being able to support yourself, despite the circumstances that you’re given.”

PHYSICAL WOUNDS

Is there more that the government could be doing to support people with mental health issues?

“Absolutely,” Joe replies. “In terms of what the government should be doing, though, we need to have 24 hour care for people who are at risk of hurting themselves. I work as a teacher in Tullamore. If I have a student who has harmed themselves, there’s no access to 24 hour psychiatric care. You’re taken to an A & E department, and you’re treated for your physical wounds. But you’re left on an endless waiting list for anything else that might be going on with you. There’s no dual diagnosis.

“So, the truth is that there is an endless list of things that the government could activate if the willingness were there. But the reality is that we all have a responsibility in relation to the stigma. If we’re using language about mental health that isn’t appropriate, we can check ourselves about that. There is so much that we, as individuals, can be doing for our friends and families.

“That’s why I named this ‘The Volunteers’,” he concludes. “It’s a look at what it meant to be an Irish volunteer 100 years ago – and what it means to volunteer for your fellow citizens today.”