A new exhibit at Peg’s Gallery in Hudson is shedding light on the dark history of women in asylums. Sculptor Kimberly Chapman’s work, ‘Eighty-Six Reasons for Asylum Admission: A Domestic Beginning,’ explores the brutal treatment of women in the 19th century.
Uncovering the Past
Chapman’s exhibit is based on a list of 86 reasons why patients were admitted to the West Virginia Hospital for the Insane between 1864 and 1899. The list includes reasons such as ‘bad company,’ ‘women trouble,’ and ‘hysteria,’ which were used to justify the involuntary commitment of women to asylums.
Chapman’s work is a powerful commentary on the mistreatment of women in the past. Her sculptures, made from white porcelain, depict the harsh realities of life in an asylum. One piece, ‘Voyeurism Comes At A Painful Cost,’ features 11 hands reaching out to the viewer, palms up, with some wrapped in bandages and holding tokens.
A Personal Mission
The exhibit is a fitting choice for Peg’s Gallery, which was founded by Peg Morgan to support those affected by mental illness. Morgan’s mission was personal, as her youngest child developed schizophrenia in his early 20s. The gallery’s director, Courtney Cable, curated an exhibit about the organization’s history in its main building next to the Baldwin Buss Merino House.
Chapman hopes that her work will allow visitors to ‘walk away with a better understanding of what women went through in these asylums’ and the loss of agency the patients experienced. The exhibit is on view at Peg’s Gallery in downtown Hudson through September 5.
Original reporting: Signal Akron — read the source article.
