Eat Your Heart Out

In this painting, I explore the theme of teenage mental health struggles. The imagery directly references the idiom “to eat one’s heart out”, referring to feelings of envy and inferiority. It inspired me to express the emotional turmoil associated with the unhealthy practice of teenagers comparing their lives against their peers. In an increasingly competitive society, adolescents are susceptible to experiencing insecurity– especially with the prevalence of social media and academic pressure. The heart-eating represents the destructive hunger to match unattainable standards, while the desolate mountainscape is symbolic of how internal battles are often fought in silence and in isolation.