Water Your Garden

By Mayanthi Jayawardena, Serendib Creative LLC
Installed 2023

ARTIST STATEMENT

“I created Water Your Garden to bring awareness to how important taking care of our mental health is. I wanted to visualize how important it is to practice self-care and be kind to yourself. As someone who is a mental health advocate with a background in public health, and who has struggled with anxiety and PTSD in my life, I wanted to create artwork that is beautiful, positive and encouraging to destigmatize such an important subject. One side of the illustration shows the power of healthy thoughts (written in the persons long hair) through affirmations and the other side of the illustration is about ways that you can practice self-care and seek support within your community symbolized through the words and multiple watering cans collectively watering the garden growing from the other person’s head. In the center is a brain with one side illustrated in the same design as the positive thoughts side and the other is illustrated as a garden. I believe that artwork has the power to change the way people think and I believe that imagery and messaging like this in the Chapel Hill buses could have a positive impact on its riders.”