Little Pharma began as an anthology-style zine compiling the visual and written creative work of artists grappling with mental illness in their lives and in their work. It was a simple mission that resonated and created dedicated space to expressions of experiences that are so often stigmatized and cast to the periphery. While stereotypes and mythologies about the intrinsic relationship between “creative genius” and mental illness abound, honest attention to mental illness is something of a penumbra in the art world. Mental illness is ever-present in artists’ own experiences of creative life, a fact that inevitably impacts the artistic production of so many, and yet mental illness exists at a shadowy remove from topics of frank discussion in the art world, acknowledged but unilluminated.
Little Pharma is a publishing project organized around topics, issues, and the needs of artists living and working with mental illness. In addition to presenting creative projects informed by mental illness, we intend to distribute and share knowledge and resources that encourage new paradigms for artists living and working with mental illness. We are only just beginning to imagine what this might mean and how this will manifest, but it has become clear that Little Pharma’s generative potential exists outside of more conventional and institutional publication methods and timelines. We invite our community to work with us in this next endeavor, to address our own collective needs in the moment, and at our own pace, to empower ourselves to reach for our most meaningful aspirations.