Portrait artist Amy Kerr, who in her work explores mental health issues and challenges with health diagnosis faced by real people, has brought her I Am More Exhibit to the Northshore Mall in Peabody and will be up until Feb. 25.
This is the third time that the exhibit has come to the mall, and Kerr’s exhibit just recently left after spending time at the Massachusetts State House. This year’s exhibit features six subjects and portraits, all of whom are on the North Shore, including Marblehead resident Jared Charney.
A photographer, Charney first stumbled upon the exhibit at the mall and took photos while writing about his experience with hearing loss and tinnitus, which is how Kerr decided to feature Charney’s story in her work, she explains on her website, amykerrdraws.org.
The exhibit is a mix of portraits and essays written by the subjects that “remind us that we are more than our mental illness, health diagnosis,physical disability, or life situation,” a flier on Kerr’s website reads. The portraits and essays at this exhibit focus on a number of topics including bullying, depression, anti-semitism, brain cancer, schizoaffective disorder, post-partum depression, opioid addiction, dementia, suicide, alcoholism, and Covid-19. There will also be mental health resources on site provided by NAMI Greater North Shore & Cape Ann, and The NAN Project. For the first time, there will also be Spanish translations on each of the essays.
On Feb. 2, there will be an opening reception at the mall from 5 p.m. to 7 p.m. Food will be provided and some of the subjects will make an appearance at the reception.