Senior Vanessa Meraz-Bueno is one of countless students who battle with mental illness. After she was diagnosed with major depression and anxiety she started using art as a type of therapy to get her through her daily life.

She started to notice a difference in her mental state when she started high school. The winter of her freshman year she began having days where her mind felt foggy, but it wasn’t until junior year when she finally made the choice to get help for her problems.

“It felt scary because I was alone, but I told myself I was used to being alone, so what’s the point of telling someone,” Meraz-Bueno said. “Then I went through something and I realized I’m not fine and I need help,” Meraz-bueno said.

Her parents didn’t teach her much growing up so she was forced to learn independence at a young age. Meraz-Bueno had violent feelings towards herself and others, but she used her artwork to help her to push past them.

“I looked at my paintings and reminded myself positive self-talk,” Meraz-bueno said.

She put on an art show in November at the Hilton to spread awareness about mental health.

She had multiple goals for the exhibit such as wanting people to understand her past and the back stories behind the work.

“People often don’t understand art and the way you present it. They all say ‘oh it’s just art and it’s not. There is a whole different meaning and story behind it,” Meraz-Bueno said. “The details represent so much more than what it is.”

Meraz-Bueno pulls inspiration from all corners of her life for her artwork.

“At first my inspiration was my big brother and from there it was everything I did,” Meraz-Bueno said. “Drawing in class started to inspire me. It was just, wow, art became my number one thing,”

She dabbles in most forms of art, but often finds herself constructing art that symbolizes her feelings and experiences.

“I try to make the invisible visible,” Meraz-Bueno said. “Instead of telling how I feel, I show it,”

Art has had a huge impact on Meraz-Bueno’s life. Whether it’s keeping her grounded, silencing bad thoughts or just a stress reliever, it has helped her fill some of the holes that mental illness poked into her life, and replaced them with a passion for creating.