Painting the Unseen: Inside the World of Bryan Charnley

 Hello to all the lovely creatures out there!

Today I am coming back to bring you yet another artist that was plagued by visions and nightmares through the eyes of schizophrenia and of course, all this was evident in his work. I am talking about non other than artist Bryan Charnley!

Bryan Charnley was a British artist who lived with what was used to be named as paranoid schizophrenia and decided to incorporate aspects of his mental disorder and its effects into his artwork. 

When talking about the term paranoid schizophrenia one should be aware that the term is nowadays an outdated name for a subtype of schizophrenia. Experts no longer use or recognise this term and instead, recognize schizophrenia as a specific disease, which is part of a spectrum of related conditions that involve psychosis. This condition typically affects your thinking abilities, memories and senses. People with schizophrenia commonly struggle to tell apart what is real and what isn't. Often, they have hallucinations and delusions and struggle with disorganized thinking.

Bryan John Charnley was born on 20th September 1949 in Stockton on Tees and grew up in London, Kent and Cranfield. In the summer of 1968, when he was 18, he suffered a nervous breakdown but still, he was able to study at Leicester School of Art. He was also eligible to study at Central School of Art and Design in Holborn, London in 1969, but was unable to complete the course due to another breakdown later diagnosed as acute schizophrenia. From 1971 until 1977 he lived at home with his parents alternating between periods of hospitalisation and treatment including ECT. In 1978 he moved to Bedford and began painting. His first paintings were representational works including large flower paintings.

From 1982 onwards his work began to adress his inner life, dreams and mental states particularly the nature of schizophrenia. His final work The Self Postrait Series was painted as he experimented with varying dosages of medication and stopping it altogether. The final 17 portraits show graphically the terrible suffering of mental illness. Along with his diary, he documented his experiences, offering insights into what is like to have schizophrenia. In this first work of his for the series we can see Bryan still looking normal and well.

Self Portrait 11th-16th April 1991

"Conventional portrait painted in two sittings. Is it a good likeness? Drug dosage was two 3mg. tables of Depixol daily plus two 25 mg. Tryptisol. I was sleeping a lot. 11th-16th April 1991."

Then a week later he decides to stop taking his antipsychotics medication to better learn about his mind. Through his diary entry around this time he explains:

"I'm very paranoid. The person upstairs is reading my mind and speaking to me in a sort of ego crucifixion. The large rabbit ears because I'm confused and extremely sensitive to human voices like a wild animal."

Self Portrait 20th April 1991.

"Cut back to one 3 mg. tablet of Depixol with Tremazepam tablets to get some sleep. Very paranoid. The person upstairs was reading my mind and speaking back to me to keep me in a sort of ego crucifixion. I felt this was because I was discharging very strong vibrations which could easily be interpreted. I tried to express this in the painting. The large rabbit ear is because I was confused and extremely sensitive to human voices, like a wild animal. I also felt I was being read generally by E.S.P. I had cut back to one tablet of Depixol on 17th April 1991 and was now just beginning to feel the dramatic effects of such a sudden withdrawal.

A few weeks after stopping taking the antipsychotics and as he continued to document his experiences, he expressed his feelings by drawing himself as a target for people's cruel remarks, a manifestation of the paranoia that often accompanies schizophrenia.

"I feel like a target for people's cruel remarks."

"The nails in my eyes express that I cannot see whereas other people seem to have extra sensory perception and I am blind in this respect. Love hurts."

Self Portrait 6th May 1991.

"I feel like a target for peoples cruel remarks. Especially negroes. What is going on? I had sweet talked a girl to suicide because I had no tongue, no real tongue, and could only flatter. This is very much involved with why I am ill. The nail in the mouth expresses this. The people around me cannot understand how I was so stupid and cannot forgive me. I can only say that I cannot socialise at all because of my weakness verbally and this is been, produced a tragedy. Thus I am a target. The nails in my eyes express that I cannot see whereas other people seem to have extra sensory perception and I am blind in this respect. Love hurts. I keep well way now from women on the advice of my psychiatrist. On two Depixol tablets plus two tablets of anti-depressants, Tryptisol.

In another self-portrait, he noted that his mind seemed to be thought broadcasting, and he had no control over it. He believed that his thoughts were being broadcasted to others - directly from his brain without the need to form words or use his larynx.

"My ming seemed to be thought broadcasting very severely and it was beyond my will to do anything about it. I summed this up by painting my brain as an enormous mouth, acting independently of me."

Self Portrait 18th May 1991

"From 10th May I had cut down to one anti-depressant (tryptisol) and so was not sleeping so much. My mind seemed to be thought broadcasting very severely and it was beyond my will to do anything about it. I summed this up by painting my brain as an enormous mouth, acting independently of me. The trouble seemed to be rightly or wrongly, to stem from a froken heart on my left so I painted a great mass of gore there to express this. The foot that connects to this is pushing the mouth open for the thoughts to be broadcasted. I feel I am always divided against my self by myself. Again the nail in the mouth expresses my social ineptitude and an in ability to socialise which makes me a target. Still I feel I am giving off strong personality vibrations, hence the wavy lines emanating from my head.

Charnley had also been on antidepressants, that he also stopped taking. In this next self-portrait, the wavy lines behind him symbolize the times when he felt safe. However, something simple such as a voice from the street could emotionally wound him with its extrasensory perception of his state. He believed that the voices he heard had an uncanny ability to distress him, leaving him to wonder how these voices could have such a profound knowledge of how to inflict pain.

Self Portrait 23rd May 1991

" I really tire of having to explain my paintings. It is very much my tragedy that people cannot understand the straight forward poetic use of symbols I am employing. The blue of the portrait is there because I felt depressed through cutting back on the anti-depressants. The wavy lines are because just as I felt I was safe a voice from the street gutted me emotionally by its E.S.P. of my condition. (I was feeling proud of the painting and he showed he knew this convicingly enough to convince me I must be giving off very strong thought messages or vibrations of some readable kind). I was pleased that I was able to express such a purely mental concept as thought broadcasting by the simple device of turning the brain into a moutn that I painted it again. One is very much up against the almost impossible task of describing in paint that which essentially totally invisible. Symbols come to be employed and the appropriate one must be found, also it should have a poetic charge attached to it. Yet still people are too ignorant to see. At this stage my central worry was thought broadcasting. This would pass as I gained insight and effects of drug withdrawal wore off. I was much worried about radio and television because I seemed to interwine with their broadcasted waves and expose myself completely  which I fould humiliating. People laughed at me when this happened or let me know it was for real by acute remarks. I continued my retreat from social contact.

As his condition worsened, and he lost insight into his depressive delusions, this also started showing throught his work: now Charnley started exhibiting signs of nihilistic delusions through his work, expressing his emptiness and worthiness.

"The eggs have been emptied like a head stripped of its contents. It has nothing left in it, no more secrets, they went to satisfy somebody's appetite, somebody that has power over me."

Self Portrait 13 th June 1991.

"People crane their necks to try and appreciate technique, raving about Picasso's which is poetic discharge via symbols. They swallow a camel to strain a gnat and say I cannot paint, that my technique is at the service of my imagination. Perhaps it should be the other way round but then I fing Picasso peculiarly bland stripped of his technique. Well the later paintings anyway. There is nothing wrong with my technique except when I have to try too hard because of the demands of the imagery. People keep me in misery because they keep coming up to me with some gossip about my past and I know nothing of theirs. The eggs have been emptied like a head stripped of its contents. It has nothing left in it, no more secrets, they went to satisfy somebody's appetite, some body that has power over me. They enjoyed every tasty mouthful. Two eggs? It was the same yesterday. Needless to say I feel suicidal picture so I painted in Van Gogh's crows from his final, suicide picture of the wheat field. E.S.P. horns, voices as mouths grinning. Birds come from eggs so the crows can also be like my thoughts flying away. All this sort of gossip increases my fears of telepathy and is the main reason I feel suicidal. Still on 1 1/2 tabs Depixol (3 mg.each). On 24th May cut out anti-depressant, Tryptisol, completely.

In July 1991 he commited suicide. The primary aim of Charnley's documenting his experience was to increase awareness and encourage himself to resume taking his medication. However, no one anticipated that he be drawn so deeply into it. Charnley's brother who was an identical twin, arranged for an exhibition of his work and the The The Self Portrait Series was exhibited at the National Portrait Gallery in 1995.

it is important to note that people with schizophrenia can lead fullfilling lives if they receive the right support and aren't stigmatized by communities. Also, not all instances of psychotic experiences develop into full-fledged metnal disorders such as schizophrenia. Having a psychotic experience doesn't necessarily imply that a person ahs or will develop a mental illness in the long-run.

Bryan Charnley's story is a heartbreaking reminder of how complex and deeply personal the experience of schizophrenia can be. Through The Self Portrait Series, he offered us a glimpse into his inner world, documenting his experiences in an attempt to understand his own mind and communicate his suffering. However, his legacy should not be defined solely by his illness or tragic death. His work reminds us of the importance of looking beyond a diagnosis and approaching mental illness with empathy and understanding. Schizophrenia affects everyone differently, and with appropriate treatment and support, peole living with the condition can lead fullfilling lives. 

Thank you all for reading and I'll see you in a next post!

xoxoxo