What parts of yourself do you keep hidden from others? We’ve all got bad habits, make terrible decisions, suffer from a sickness (physical or mental), or live through life plagued by constant fear of what’s next. I tend to spend a lot of time sitting with these emotions, either by creating characters and stories I can relate to or by writing about my own experiences through song. Crafting my second EP, Junk Drawer, was a task. It took over a year of endless writing, rewriting, re-rewriting, and fighting with BandLab’s sixteen-track limit at my desk. But the hardest part of it all was dealing with how vulnerable that project was compared to my last one. At first it made me a little uncomfortable and worried about how my listeners would react. But, as I kept working at it, I realized that that was the entire point of not only the EP but music as a whole. Writing from your heart and building worlds people can relate to. And people did.
WhaadleWorks didn’t come out of the blue. I’ve always wanted to create a space where people could express their passion for the arts with me. However, I did not expect it to grow so fast. Since posting my first video about it, we have received over one thousand submissions, connected with other amazing youth-led publications, and built a reliable network of hardworking staff. And after months of rigorous selection and reselection, I believe we have created something truly special.
The Junk Journal is dedicated to those fighting silent battles. Whether it’s with grief, loneliness, mental illness, or fear of the ever-changing present, you’re not alone. You’re simply human.
Thank you all so, so much. Welcome to The Junk Journal :)
-Gabe (Founder and Editor-in-Chief)
“This piece is inspired by the clutter, mess, and guilt you accumulate in the safe space you occupy during a depressive episode. I made this piece a couple of years ago when I was still unwell, and it serves as a point in time I look back on, a place I never want to reach again. Every little part of the painting holds memory and focuses in on the items you reach for when you feel isolated.”
-C.L. Sands
“Hello! I’m Adrian, an Argentine-American writer and poet. I decided to challenge myself with this piece, and picked the prompt that took me the longest to come up with a solid concept for. I thought about the dread of disease, particularly those that are slow-progressing, and wanted to write about that. I always try to choose settings/motifs in accordance with the main theme, and felt the quiet isolation of the open farmland as well as the different responses toward illness (in humans and animals, and where they intersect) to be fitting.”
-Adrian S.G.
“I’m Forrest, a poet and artist enamored by the world who seeks to capture it through creativity. I chose this prompt because I believe that innocence is an overly idealized concept that drives wandering souls mad with the pursuit of its perfect promise. There is no world where an absolutely innocent person exists; to sin is to be human, yet we all seek to preserve our own innocence and find others who embody purity—all the while unaware that what we seek exists only in our imagination.”
-Forrest Rose
Growing up as the Asian American kid who never felt the beauty standards around me, I often felt judged and labeled before I even spoke. Labels like “quiet weird kid” and “fat one” stuck to me long after the names stopped. I learned to shrink myself and never show my full true personality, existing quietly in spaces I never felt I truly belonged. The feeling of alienation and insecurity is what inspired my painting. My painting is a visual representation of those emotions. The bed is the place I retreat when the world feels too loud. The warm light is supposed to feel gentle, like a push to show myself. But in the painting, it felt like a spotlight I’m ready to step into.
-Moldycheezitz
“My name is Genevieve, and I am an illustrator who works in all kinds of art mediums. This is a digital art piece that I created using the program Procreate. I tried to capture some fearful facial expressions and take inspiration from some of my fears. I used lots of sharp shapes and contrasting colours to give my drawing more tension and make the viewer feel as if they are on the edge of their seat. Jagged lines and a variety of textures were used to make my image more chaotic and imply a sense of impending doom. While I have not posted on my art account in a while, I am going to try to start getting back into it soon, so please be on the lookout for my future artworks!”
-Genevieve
“The prompt “Fear” reminded me of the image of eyes on a butterfly’s wings. It reminded me of the idea of unwanted surveillance, deception, and also the illogical sense of unease one feels when faced with something that is objectively harmless but has a myriad of terrifying associations. I also found it ironic that while predators are scared off by the facade of eyes on a butterfly’s wings, it in itself is a facade that encapsulates the butterfly’s fear of being consumed.”
- Chloe
“I am an emerging artist interested in translating psychological experiences into symbolic imagery. Scoptophobia draws upon the fear of observation, using recurring eyes and labyrinthine forms to visualise hypervigilance and distorted perception. The celestial elements suggest that fear reaches far beyond physical space into the realms of memory, imagination, and consciousness itself. The work responds to the prompt, Fear, as a ubiquitous force that quietly shifts the way in which we meet the world, through simple lines drawn with a pen.”
-Naina Sharat
“My piece is a set of prose separated into three short lyrical formats that are tied into one. The prose is a descriptive, imaginative, and compelling piece that talks about the force of attraction between the sun and moon. I’ve always had an interest in celestial objects and, as it is a part of my religious faith, I find it fascinating how such big elements can be intertwined with how we understand relationships and connections. It’s a reason why I wanted it specifically in the category of “Longing.” It showcases a kind of bittersweet “love story” between the sun and moon, and their circulation being a metaphor for their constant attraction to one another and how they are in balance despite the distance. I’ve always loved the idea of human nature being correlated with human emotions, as there is a lot of experimental writing and ideas that can be explored, and it helps to open your mind to these aspects. The prompt focuses on the moon’s yearning for the sun and the “marriage.” I had purposefully left the “marriage” open for interpretation, as I wanted to evoke the kind of emotions one can express when wanting to reach for something desirable and yet weighted back by a sense of insecurity. The sun and the moon are used as examples to showcase this cosmic force of attraction.”
-Zarrin
“My name is Elsie Colleen. I am a young adult trying to figure out how to live in this beautiful mess of a world we find ourselves in. I am a woman who recently fell in love for the first time, even when both of us had the knowledge I would be moving halfway across the world to pursue my supposed dream. 8,600 miles later, suddenly every thought I have ever had about what I want is crumbling, and the one decision I am sure about I can only find at dusk and dawn when our waking hours overlap. Anxiety building, body restless, and I left behind the first place I have felt truly safe in years only to discover that maybe this whole time I have not been chasing a dream but a home.”
-Elsie Colleen
“This is inspired by the feelings queer and gay couples felt back centuries ago when being queer openly wasn’t accepted and instead punished. This painting is for those queer couples and the feelings of longing and absolute need of their person next to them. The two guys’ faces in this painting are being “submerged” together to represent how they crave and desire each other, so much so that they want to never let go or leave one another no matter the circumstances. As someone who is still young and who is queer, this piece is important to me because every queer person deserves their sunshine and happiness; as someone who’s a self-taught artist, I try to make every piece and brushstroke have meaning.”
-Alex
“I am a student and essayist interested in the quieter corners of human experience, particularly the emotions that often go unnamed. “The Things We Learn to Live Without” was inspired by a personal realization that grief does not always follow loss. Sometimes it arrives much later, when an ordinary moment reveals an absence we have unknowingly built our lives around. Through this piece, I explore a subtler form of grief: mourning not what was taken away, but what was never there to begin with. I hope whoever reads it enjoys it as much as I enjoyed writing it. ;) Thank You!”
-Millo
“I’m an amateur writer who also produces music and meme content on TikTok, trying to be as creative as I can. My inspiration came from attending a funeral and seeing this one guy who was very close to the deceased but did not shed a single tear during the funeral. He himself didn’t know why he couldn’t cry, which made me believe that everyone grieves differently. I wanted to showcase that in my script: the unusual side of human emotion during grief, which may seem inappropriate and contradictory to most people.”
-Isabek Kenzhebekov
“I am newly graduated from an arts high school, and I love to create in many fields: visual art, sculpture, dance, instrumental music, theatre, and more. I was inspired by my portfolio concept “The Moment Before Impact,” where this piece fits in. A pondering man is surrounded by all of the mistakes he’s made in his life up until now, and he sits wondering how he could have avoided becoming a failure. He may have always been destined to fall, but he let the misfortune of kismet control him before he even tried to pick himself back up.”
-Jocelyn Makara
