The art movement helping people rebuild

AT ROCK bottom Levi Foster wrote a goodbye letter, then found a flyer for a local art collective.

The group, Antifragile, was holding a workshop that week. Six months later, Levi credits it with saving their life.

The art group, which launched in February last year, aims to provide people with lived experience of mental illness a safe space to express themselves.

At the time, Levi, who uses she/they pronouns, was trying to navigate the end of a relationship, the loss of a pregnancy, financial hardship, a lack of support from loved ones and thoughts of suicide.

They had reached their lowest point when they remembered the flyer.

“I went to my bag, and I got it out and I laid them out next to each other. I was looking back and forth between them and the Antifragile flyer just screamed hope because it’s bright and colourful and inviting.

“I thought to myself ‘I don’t have the strength’ and something in the back of my mind said ‘But you can still breathe’.”

In what Levi describes as “one last Hail Mary”, they went to Antifragile’s next workshop.

“It was a trust fall, and they caught me.

“I walked in there raw, honest, vulnerable, at the lowest point in my life, and I was met with more warmth and compassion and support than I have ever experienced, even at my ugliest.”

It was an experience that gave them the strength to start again. Today, Levi is a board member and now offers the same support to others. On bad days, they still show up, even if it’s just to lay on the floor.

“I can guarantee that I would not be here without Antifragile,” Levi said.

“They not only saved my life — literally — but they gave me something to do with it that matters.”

Antifragile founder Clare Johnston said it was a “deep honour” to be able to create a space for people at their most vulnerable.

“We meet you where you’re at and we give you space to just be,” Claire said.

“Antifragile empowers people who have spent their entire lives being told that they are incapable or lesser. It empowers them to be so much better than they thought they could be, than anyone else thought they could be.

“Everyone on our board is someone living with complex mental illness, which I’m extraordinarily proud of because it’s very unusual to be able to do this.”

Since its first exhibition in October last year, Antifragile has doubled in size, and created a community that stretches well beyond its home at the Norlane Community Centre.

The group is now working towards its second art show.

Together we are Antifragile will open on October 10 at the Fyansford Paper Mill for a two-week exhibition exploring mental illness through the lens of lived experience: the symptoms, the impact of systems on wellbeing, and the power of community.

That power is what the exhibition really seeks to celebrate: genuine community, support, safety and a space where there is no need to pretend, hide or mask symptoms and feelings.

“It is the most genuine conversation and the most genuine invitation to come and join us, talk with us,” Clare said.

“Because this is how we build a world where it’s not just one tiny organisation that lets people like Levi and myself and the rest of our members shine.”

Submissions for the exhibition will remain open until September 19. Everyone is invited to contribute.

For details, email [email protected]

If you or someone you know needs support, visit beyondblue.org.au or phone their 24/7 hotline on 1300 22 4636. You can also head to lifeline.org.au or phone 13 11 14.