A Philosophical Reflection and Artistic Expressions on Mental Disorders and Sensory Differences through Ceramic Brains

This study aims to explore famous artists associated with mental disorders, based on the hypothesis that their mental conditions underlie their groundbreaking creativity, and then to replicate their famous works in an artistic way on ceramic brains, using the medium to represent their mental states. There is a strong belief that mental illnesses and sensory differences contribute positively to artistic production and creativity. However, clinical research has shown that mental illnesses and neurological differences do not always have positive effects on artistic creation. Thus, it is more accurate to say that, depending on the type and severity of the mental states that artists have, mental disorders can affect them and their artistic works either positively or negatively. In this article, clinical research on artistic creativity and psychiatric diagnoses is discussed, and some groundbreaking artists whose mental disorders are recognized are briefly mentioned. The practical part of this study is the second part, in which artistic ceramic brain sculptures were designed to visualize the works of famous artists known to have mental disorders or sensory differences. Based on the idea that artists’ mental disorders and neurological diversity may be related to specific neurological differences in their brains, the human brain form is preferred to convey the neurological underpinnings of the mental diversities these artists both suffered and gifted.