Ethel Nalule (pictured above) began her interest in photography when she was seven years old. Since then, the research associate in psychiatry has used photography to chronicle her journey through life, including a difficult struggle with the effects of Lyme Disease.
Three of her powerful black-and-white self-portraits are among the pieces on display in “Mindful: Exploring Mental Health Through Art,” a new exhibit of work submitted by members of the Yale School of Medicine (YSM) community in response to a call for art. The free exhibit, sponsored by the Program for Art in Public Spaces (PAPS), opened on March 21 on the first floor of Sterling Hall of Medicine outside the medical library.
YSM medical students, physician associate (PA) students, postdocs, researchers, faculty, and staff submitted paintings, drawings, and photographs documenting often raw and personal explorations of mental health in their own lives. Nalule’s self-portraits included a photo, titled Daily Amnesia, that pictures her with a bowl of goldfish on her head to symbolize the struggle she had with short-term memory when she battled Lyme Disease. Another photo, Stigma, shows Nalule shrouded in plastic, an allusion to the fact that she felt suffocated by her disease.
Together, 42 individuals submitted 85 pieces in response to the call for artwork. Of those, 35 pieces from 25 artists were selected for display, according to PAPS Coordinator Terry Dagradi.
“The diversity and the breadth of the submissions were heartwarming,” said Darin Latimore, MD, YSM deputy dean and chief diversity officer and co-chair of PAPS along with Anna Reisman, MD. In addition to humanizing and de-stigmatizing mental health, the exhibit helps bring the community together, Latimore said.
“It gives members of the community a reason to come into this space just to reflect by looking at the art and reading the narratives,” Latimore said. “I think it’s really critical we do things like this to help engage our community.”
Among the works in the “Mindful” exhibition are two graphite drawings by Jared King, lab manager in Psychiatry. One, titled Anguish, shows a man looking upward and appearing to scream, his face contorted in pain. The drawing is a self-portrait that “reflects past struggles with homelessness and insecurities and the lingering effects on my life now,” according to the narrative that accompanies the piece. The other drawing, Dysmorphia, is a portrait of King’s wife that “reflects her lifelong struggles with body dysmorphia and anxiety.”
Another powerful work of art, Healing Garden, is an oil painting by Liane Philpotts, professor of radiology and biomedical imaging. It shows a patient who underwent a mastectomy and breast reconstruction displaying the garden-themed tattoos on her torso. The title of the painting “is a nod to the Healing Garden at Smilow, which provides patients an area of peaceful respite in nature for quiet contemplation,” according to the narrative that accompanies the painting.
Other works include Rage, an acrylic painting by medical student Nancy Park, which depicts two faces on a chaotic red and black background to illustrate “the raw intensity of rage.” One face “hints at the silent, simmering anger that often lurks beneath the surface,” while the other, contorted in a scream, “unleashes the pent-up fury in a visceral display.”
In addition to the “Mindful” exhibit, the Cushing/Whitney Medical Library is hosting a companion exhibit in the library hallway and rotunda titled “Mindscapes: Stories of Mental Health Through Yale Collections.” The exhibit explores the history of psychiatry and mental health through historical paintings, photographs, drawings, texts—and even some old Rorschach tests—from the library’s collections. The exhibit was curated by Melissa Grafe, PhD, and Laura Phillips, PhD.