By Shreyas Ramachandran Srinivasan
NeuroTree: Drawing Your Path to Growth & Potential
A Mental Health Art Week 2026 workshop by Irina Guseva
Irina Guseva
What feeds your growth?
That was the question at the heart of NeuroTree, a workshop based on neurographic art, where participants visualized their past experiences as roots supporting future possibilities.
Neurograph trees
My Neurotree
We were invited to draw our own trees, exploring where we came from, what supports us, and where we hope to grow. Through flowing lines, shapes, and colours, participants mapped out aspirations, challenges, and dreams.
I chose “Career and Aspirations” as my theme.
At first glance, the most obvious parts of my drawing are the fruits at the top of the tree: Growth, Stability, and Money. These are outcomes that many of us seek in our careers. But as I reflected on the artwork afterwards, I realized that the fruits weren’t the most interesting part of the tree.
The roots told a much richer story.
At the bottom of my tree were three roots: Aalto Robotics Club, my friend network, and my work qualities. Looking at them, I realized that these are the things currently sustaining me. One gives me a community where I can learn, contribute, and develop my technical skills. Another reminds me that I don’t have to face uncertainty alone. The third gives me direction, even when the path ahead isn’t clear.
Together, these roots feed the things I hope to achieve. The drawing made me realize that growth, stability, and financial security don’t exist independently. They are nourished by relationships, purpose, learning, and persistence.
What surprised me most was the amount of empty white space surrounding the tree.
Initially, it felt uncomfortable. The blank areas seemed unfinished, almost like something was missing. But the more I looked at it, the more they began to represent the uncertainty that currently exists in my life. The opportunities I haven’t discovered yet. The people I haven’t met yet. The experiences that have not yet become part of my story.
To be honest, this exercise filled me with a sense of dread and anxiety. Over the past year, my relationship with career aspirations has become closely linked with uncertainty and questions about the future. Seeing those hopes visually represented on paper made those emotions difficult to ignore.
Yet that may have been the value of the exercise.
Art doesn’t always create comfort. Sometimes it reveals what is already there.
What struck me was how differently people experienced the same activity. While I found myself confronting anxiety and uncertainty, other participants shared that their trees filled them with hope, happiness, and relief. It was a reminder that growth is deeply personal. The same exercise can become a mirror reflecting completely different emotions depending on where each person is in their journey.
