Rising in Our Power
Samantha Blackburn
Samantha Blackburn
A description of her performance concept by Samantha Blackburn
My performance piece was inspired by both my own personal experience of living with ill mental health and that of a family member who was forcefully taken from their home to an English asylum in the 1970’s.
I am inspired by 19th Century social reformer and feminist Elizabeth Packard and her journey from mental health hospital inmate (committed by her husband) to successful campaigner of legislative reform for women’s rights.
I discovered a detailed biography of Elizabeth by author Kate Moore in her excellent book ‘The Woman They Could Not Silence.’ In the Author’s Note Moore states “This is not a book about mental health, but about how it can be used as a weapon.” (Moore, 2021.) My performance sought to detail some of the injustices that Packard experienced which were prevalent then and now against women who live with mental illness.
Elizabeth Packard published several accounts of her and other women’s experiences in Illinois’ asylum which were funded by her extensive travels to successfully ‘crowd fund’ subscriptions and later in her life she became a wealthy, independent woman.
I chose to perform as Elizabeth at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in their textile gallery which at that time featured the work of Cumbrian textile artist Winifred Nicholson. The gallery was dimly lit which echoed the grim conditions of the Illinois asylum where Elizabeth was held. The textile theme married well with one of Elizabeth’s innovative methods of getting messages out to friends and supporters - she secreted from supportive staff textile and paper materials and had these same allies smuggle out her letters on her behalf.
I performed a ten-minute self-written fictional monologue in which Packard speaks to the audience as she is leaving the asylum after three years inside. The script describes the legal systems that allowed Elizabeth’s husband to commit her without trial, the desperate conditions in the asylum and her rallying actions that supported her fellow women and resulted in her release.
My costume featured 19th Century period clothing items I procured including a long, black, beaded silk skirt, a black Victorian 1860’s Mourning Fanchon (head covering) and a pin-lace collar which I sewed onto my outfit. I created a belt covered in material which emulated the clothing that asylum inmates would be confined in: ‘hard’ clothing and refer to the notion of confinement and cruel punishment. I created embroidered messages of strength which Elizabeth had in mind to cope with her situation – for example, thoughts of the house, garden and family she loved. I also attached colourful fabrics and other items such as dolls house miniature furniture pieces and botanics.
My performance piece was inspired by both my own personal experience of living with ill mental health and that of a family member who was forcefully taken from their home to an English asylum in the 1970’s.
I am inspired by 19th Century social reformer and feminist Elizabeth Packard and her journey from mental health hospital inmate (committed by her husband) to successful campaigner of legislative reform for women’s rights.
I discovered a detailed biography of Elizabeth by author Kate Moore in her excellent book ‘The Woman They Could Not Silence.’ In the Author’s Note Moore states “This is not a book about mental health, but about how it can be used as a weapon.” (Moore, 2021.) My performance sought to detail some of the injustices that Packard experienced which were prevalent then and now against women who live with mental illness.
Elizabeth Packard published several accounts of her and other women’s experiences in Illinois’ asylum which were funded by her extensive travels to successfully ‘crowd fund’ subscriptions and later in her life she became a wealthy, independent woman.
I chose to perform as Elizabeth at the Middlesbrough Institute of Modern Art in their textile gallery which at that time featured the work of Cumbrian textile artist Winifred Nicholson. The gallery was dimly lit which echoed the grim conditions of the Illinois asylum where Elizabeth was held. The textile theme married well with one of Elizabeth’s innovative methods of getting messages out to friends and supporters - she secreted from supportive staff textile and paper materials and had these same allies smuggle out her letters on her behalf.
I performed a ten-minute self-written fictional monologue in which Packard speaks to the audience as she is leaving the asylum after three years inside. The script describes the legal systems that allowed Elizabeth’s husband to commit her without trial, the desperate conditions in the asylum and her rallying actions that supported her fellow women and resulted in her release.
My costume featured 19th Century period clothing items I procured including a long, black, beaded silk skirt, a black Victorian 1860’s Mourning Fanchon (head covering) and a pin-lace collar which I sewed onto my outfit. I created a belt covered in material which emulated the clothing that asylum inmates would be confined in: ‘hard’ clothing and refer to the notion of confinement and cruel punishment. I created embroidered messages of strength which Elizabeth had in mind to cope with her situation – for example, thoughts of the house, garden and family she loved. I also attached colourful fabrics and other items such as dolls house miniature furniture pieces and botanics.
