I am a Cardiff born and bred Artist living with Mental Illness. Since childhood, I’ve always known I was different, I never truly knew how or why. Whilst people affectionately called me mad or would say “that’s just Tam, she’s bonkers” I didn’t realise they didn’t think like me or see the world the same way I did.
Growing up as an energetic fantasist in Splott I quickly learnt how to put on a mask to protect myself from letting others know my emotional vulnerabilities. Luckily my parents engaged me in creative outlets which was where I felt safe and most comfortable. With dance in particular, I found a way of expressing myself and my emotions in a way that I couldn’t communicate vocally, because I never understood what I was feeling and therefore didn’t have the vocabulary to explain it.
My Creative Cardiff story maps my relationship with the Arts and my Mental Health from childhood right through to 2020. It depicts the power the Arts has on our abilities to communicate and express ourselves in a deeper and more meaningful way; generating work that expresses who we are as people in all our physical, emotional and mental forms. The Arts have allowed me to learn to cope with my mental and emotional needs in a much healthier way than I was when my creativity was taken away from me as it allows me to digest and cope with the world in my own way.
Audio description read by Tamsin Griffiths:
Find out more about Tamsin Griffiths and the other Our Creative Cardiff 2020 creatives here.
