Art as Your Escape Hatch

The city never truly stops. The morning rush blends into back-to-back meetings, the quick lunch at your desk turns into late emails, and before you know it, night falls with the hum of traffic still pressing against your window. It’s a life lived in fast-forward—efficient, productive, and utterly exhausting.

Modern urban living bombards our senses. The constant noise, the pace, the crowds—research in cognitive science shows that urban dwellers experience significantly higher levels of sensory overload, which contributes to stress, anxiety, and burnout. In 2019, the American Psychological Association reported that people living in cities are 21% more likely to develop anxiety disorders compared to those in rural areas. Our brains were never designed to handle this much input, this constantly.

We all need somewhere to go when the pressure builds. Somewhere quiet. Somewhere ours.

The Science of a Mental Refuge

Psychologists call it “restorative space”—a place, real or imagined, where your mind can reset. It doesn’t have to be big. It doesn’t have to be far. But it has to be yours.

When you create art, you enter a state neuroscientists call flow—a deep focus where time feels suspended, outside distractions fade, and your brain switches from stress-fuelled fight-or-flight mode into a calm, present state. MRI studies from Drexel University even show that making art for just 45 minutes can reduce cortisol levels (your body’s main stress hormone), regardless of your skill level.

Sarah’s Escape Hatch

Sarah was a 32-year-old marketing manager working in the heart of Kuala Lumpur. Her days were a blur of deadlines, client demands, and the kind of “urgent” emails that arrive at 10 p.m.

One Thursday evening, caught in a rare gap between meetings, she wandered into an Art Knights open studio. She hadn’t painted in over a decade, but something about the rows of paint jars, the smell of fresh canvas, and the quiet murmur of people at work made her pause.

She picked up a brush. No plan, no perfectionism—just colours spilling onto the surface. Somewhere between mixing teal and shading a streak of gold, the city disappeared. No emails. No notifications. Just her, her hands, and the canvas.

Sarah came back the following week. And the next. She started calling those two hours her escape hatch—a little door she could open to step outside the city without ever leaving it.

Why Art Works for Everyone

Not everyone can take a weekend retreat or move to a quieter neighbourhood—but everyone can carve out a space for themselves. Art is one of the most accessible ways to do that because:

• It’s immersive – Your hands and mind focus on one thing at a time.

• It’s tactile – The feel of brush on canvas or pen on paper grounds you.

• It’s expressive – You can pour emotions you can’t explain into shapes and colours.

And here’s the best part: You don’t have to be “good” at it. Studies show the mental health benefits of art-making are the same whether you’re a professional or a beginner.