LGBTQIA+
Onion Girl and Mental Illness Interview with Non-Binary Designer and Activist August Getty of August Getty Atelier By Simha Haddad
The stigma behind mental health needs to be broken. Much like with an onion, if you get too close, it will make you cry. But you throw in the right ingredients, you slap some olive oil on that bitch, throw in that garlic, slap it on the butt with a little basilico, and you get an incredible foundation for every meal. This means that once you come to terms with your brain, you have a foundation for every day to be a good day. CAN YOU SPEAK ABOUT YOUR OWN JOURNEY WITH MENTAL ILLNESS? Sure. It is a priority for me to show others how I cope via my social platforms. I want to show you my metaphorical scars and when I am bleeding. I want to reach that one person who needs it so that they do not feel alone. HAVE THERE BEEN ANY SPECIFIC EXAMPLES OF MENTAL ILLNESS IN YOUR LIFE THAT YOU CAN SHARE? There have been multiple examples of self-harm in my youth and in my present life through substance and through burning bridges. A lot of mental issues come with the feeling of need- ing attention and feeling a lack of love, even when you are fully loved and fully acknowledged as a person. You are unable to realize that you are already home, your past trauma is in the past, and that you are already safe. You do not have to constantly be at war with yourself. I have to remind myself of this every day, or I will find myself in a hole, either figuratively in my room or liter- ally in the ground. IN YOUR OPINION, WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN TALKING ABOUT MENTAL HEALTH AND MENTAL ILLNESS? “Mental health” has become the buzzword or the zeitgeist of our generation, which I am grateful for. Thank God. Society needs to focus on mental health as it is doing now. Using the term “mental illness” for me is more poignant. Stop opening the (expletive) door and kick the bitch down. Sledgehammer that asshole and show us the hallway so we can try to get through. You don’t need to put sugar on the handle of the door to lick it open. WHY DO YOU FEEL IT IS IMPORTANT TO SHED LIGHT ON MENTAL ILLNESS THROUGH YOUR ART? It is the only way that I can unselfishly create from now on. My art is something that wasn’t rooted in the need or want to help people or to do anything for anyone. It is something that is just sewn into my DNA, pun intended. But the only way I can create now and
TELL US ABOUT YOUR LATEST COLLECTION, ONION GIRL. The name came to me with a mixture of humor and the reality of saying goodbye to gender as a whole. It was time to say goodbye to the “Getty Girl,” as I knew her, and even say goodbye to myself as I knew myself. Once I did that, I was able to dive into the fact that people think they know who I am both as a person and as a designer, but people will only ever see the outside of me. That plays into what inspired the clothing for this collection. Even if I tell you who I am, because we all come with preconceived notions, I have no control over who I am to you. The most beautiful things about myself are like the different layers of an onion—layers of background, knowledge, interests, artistry. For example, I am going to a jazz concert this weekend, but you can also find me at a dive bar in fishnets tomorrow night or at a former Presi- dent’s birthday the weekend after that. My heritage is also a very important layer. You’ll no- tice references to the small village in Tuscany where both my mother and I were raised in the fabrication technique and the visible lines of the clothing. Here, I can use de- sign as storytelling to tie in my heritage. You will also see this within the campaign, which is the amalgamation of two worlds—one that is curated and one that is authen- tic, much like myself. HOW DOES ONION GIRL TIE IN WITH MENTAL ILLNESS? You have to understand that there are so many layers of you, you may not know yourself until you fully bloom. We all have some sort of mental deviation and darkness that we need help with. “ As someone who has always thought that my creativity thrived in darkness, it’s important to remember that your heart’s where your creativity spreads its roots. ”
August Getty
eternally make both my younger and current self truly happy is to do it for you. And everyone reading this. DO YOU HAVE ANY WORDS OF ADVICE FOR ANY ARTIST WHO IS ALSO SUFFERING FROM MENTAL ILLNESS? As someone who has always thought that my creativity thrived in darkness, it’s important to remember that at the end of the day, your heart’s where your creativity spreads its roots. That is where your creativity stems from. Look there instead of this dark shadow where you may think you need to exist. @augustgettyatelier
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