The Search (Revealed)
Laura Bean is a multidisciplinary artist and writer, born and based in Brisbane. Since her diagnosis with chronic depression in 2015, her work has explored the emotional and psychological landscapes of women’s lives - focusing on mental illness, femininity, vulnerability, and the physical and emotional spaces we retreat to.
Working across photography, painting, and poetry, Laura combines traditionally feminine materials and aesthetics with themes of emotional difficulty and psychological truth. In her work, pink becomes both a symbol and a disruption - a colour of softness used to articulate what is often dismissed. Through this tension, she invites audiences to question assumptions about womanhood and the lived experience of invisible illness.
Presented as a diptych, 'The Search' reimagines the wordsearch as a metaphor for the quiet, persistent, and often unseen effort to stay grounded in everyday life, while living with the ongoing challenges of chronic mental illness.
Tucked within the grids of stamped letters are words including 'continue', 'exist', 'persist', and 'live'. In 'Revealed', the words are in pink ink, marking a shift from searching to seeing; reflecting the small mental shifts that help keep people going.