The Creative Cure

Video posted April 30, 2014 in News by Rainier Lopez

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Macee Kensinger struggles with mild depression and anxiety, but her ideal medicine isn't prescribed, it's much simpler. It's her art.

Kensinger’s artwork resembles the deep, dark emotions she contains that have developed throughout her life's toughest times.

As a freshman majoring in Integrative Arts, her college career got off to a rough start when a good friend tragically passed away, she broke up with her boyfriend, a guy she says "used (her) like a tool,” and she  lost a pet all at the beginning of the Spring 2014 semester.

Macee, from Spring Mills, PA, has had anxiety since she was a child but her depression started towards the end of her senior year of high school. 

Although they’re controlled, Kensinger still suffers from panic attacks due to her anxiety. The attacks are more likely to happen when she doesn't take her prescribed depression pills (generic Zoloft).

Macee constructed her final project for her ART 230 (Sculpting) class taught by Katie Hovencamp. The finished product is that of a woman without a face that appears to be in pain, bleeding out her emotions into a bowl of roses. Her goals as an artist are to make people feel her sadness and depression and for people to experience her work.

“I want them to feel uncomfortable,” Kensinger said. “I want them to feel anxiety.”

She wants to become an art therapist in order to help others who are suffering from depression deal with it in a healthy, creative way as opposed to drinking, drugs and other destructive alternatives.

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Macee's project is critiqued by her ART 230 professor and some of her classmates in this video. 

Tagged in:

anxiety , arts , depression , freshman year , psu , sculpting , visual arts

About the Contributors

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RainierLopez

Senior / Broadcast Journalism

Rainier A. Lopez hails from Lancaster, PA and is currently a senior at Penn State University. He found his calling in radio while a sophomore at Penn State Harrisburg. He transferred to Penn State’s main campus in State College following the 2011-2012 academic year. He is 22 years old.

Rainier joined The LION 90.7 FM’s SportsBlitz in the summer of 2012 and became the Director of Finance for the station in December 2012. Since being at The LION, Rainier has called five Penn State home football games and several Penn State men’s basketball games and baseball games. He also hosts a weekly show Thursday nights on The LION from 6-7pm EST.

In April 2013, Rainier was elected President & General Manager of The LION 90.7FM. His job is to maintain relations with the University, the Penn State student radio alumni, and other clubs & organizations. He oversees the general station operations and makes decisions on the direction the station goes throughout the academic year.

Rainier is slated to graduate in May 2014 with a bachelor’s degree in Broadcast Journalism with a concentration in sports broadcasting. He is minoring in Communication Arts & Sciences.