UK-based graphic designer Thomas Wightman has created a series of sculptures that visually convey personal emotion through symbolic form. Specifically, he researched the thoughts and feelings of those suffering from obsessive-compulsive disorder (OCD) because he says, “I want to create a voice for the sufferers [of OCD] and the emotions felt by them.”
Each of the three pieces involves extremely detailed, hand-sculpted book pages organized into expressive forms. Drowning from Obsession shows a paper boat, sinking in a spiral of obsession. Plagued by Doubt features a swarm of typography insects, eating away at the book just as OCD can eat away at a person who does not seek treatment. And finally, Derailing My Train of Thought incorporates a train, disrupted from it's travel, symbolizing a period of anxiety and panic. Wightman uses books as his medium because he says, “The book firstly is closed hiding the addiction from view in the same manner as those who hide these addictions from loved ones and friends. However when the book is opened it reveals the chaotic emotions felt.”
