HAPPY BOOK
Maddie De Pree
HAPPY BOOK​ is a 100-page, 6’’x9’’ artist’s book that contains photos, drawings, journal entries, notes, medical documents, and worksheets that relate, in some way, to my experiences with mental illness. The purpose of ​this book​ is to serve as a visual study of my own mental issues and the way in which I cope with them. The combination confessional-cavalier tone of this book creates dissonance for the viewer, who feels at once amused, voyeuristic, and concerned, depending on their level of familiarity with the situations and feelings depicted in HAPPY BOOK​.
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I set out to complete an artist's book because I like the history and meaning behind this particular medium. The artist's book is accessible, unpretentious, and affordable. It is also universal in a way that most types of art are not—since a book can be passed hand-to-hand, it belongs to anyone (and in this way belongs to no one.)
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HAPPY BOOK is available for purchase! You can get your copy by clicking the button above.​
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(While I am selling PDF versions of the book, it is really meant to be viewed on paper. If you can afford to purchase a physical copy, please do—any and all profits will help me get settled into my post-grad/pandemic-rattled life.)
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My mediums for this project were photography, pen and ink (Sharpie), and print media. To produce my drawings and journals, I used Sharpies and a selection of cheap notebooks. I then scanned these in and sequenced them alongside the photos and other documents to create a conversation between images and text. I edited down these images and documents using tone as the metric for what to keep and what to discard. In sequencing my drawings alongside my photos and therapy worksheets, a narrative emerged—a narrative of how I navigate the world and cope with my various mental struggles. In emphasizing the relationship between text and image, my book exists in its own right as a story as well as a work of art. You can browse a selection of pages below, or check out the limited preview available on Blurb.
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Some of the material in ​HAPPY BOOK​ is sardonic, tongue-in-cheek. Some of the material creates feelings of dissonance and discomfort, and exists primarily to disturb. These tensions are meant to encapsulate the “damned-if-you-do, damned-if-you-don’t” mentality that I have encountered when navigating my mental illness—people are uncomfortable when I speak seriously about my mental issues, but they are equally uncomfortable when I joke about them. It is my hope that ​HAPPY BOOK​ can play some role, however small, in the de-stigmatization of mental illness and recovery.
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Free phone wallpaper for my adoring fans. Have some Happy...
ARTIST BIO
Maddie De Pree majored in English and completed the writing track at Furman University. Her poetry, fiction, and creative nonfiction have appeared in a variety of national print and online journals, including The Austin Chronicle, Permafrost Magazine, and The Gordon Square Review. She will be living in Greenville after graduation, where she hopes to continue working, writing, and making art.
She is available for hire in the Greenville area and can also remotely complete freelance design work, editing, and copywriting. You can view her resume and portfolio at maddiedepree.com.