Lyailya Turlybekova

#faceofdepression

Many people think that I am 28 year old good looking, nice, smart, funny person. If you look at me you would never think that I could be unhappy, scared and terrified of my condition: sensitive, aggressive, unsociable, hyper sociable or everything listed at the same time. There are many people like me, however not many talk about it. I get labeled with definitions that are convenient to identify and “diagnose” my personality - depressive, aggressive, angry, etc. Normally no one wonders what caused such mental state, and rarely could see or understand that there is a legitimate reason behind it.

I want to end the taboo around talking about mental health, depression and how that is still seen as a sign of weakness. This project is about my way out of depression without antidepressants.

Through therapy, understanding of me, my history and my soul.

Lyailya Turlybekova

Lyailya Turlybekova (Kazakhstan, 1989) is a multiple media artist with a primary interest in installations and photography.

Her interest in photography started in 2009 as a hobby. After getting a Civil engineering degree in 2012 from the University of Manchester she started to learn fine art – graphic drawings, live sketching, oil painting. After that she freelanced as a graphic designer and an illustrator. In 2016 and 2017 she took part in modern art exhibitions in Almaty and Astana. In 2016 Lyailya participated in IOM/ The UN Migration Agency photostory project “Migrants: An Invisible Force in Central Asia”.

Project #faceofdepression is her first own documentary project describing her experience of depression and way out of it.