Lifeworks : Bitter pills

Colleen Wolstenholme wears a simple silver pendant around her neck. At first glance, it looks like a small amulet or good-luck charm. It is, however, a provocative comment on the use of drugs and the treatment of women in contemporary society. Wolstenholme, an artist now living in Hantsport, Nova Scotia, has created a line of jewellery — pendants, earrings, bracelets — that replicate the design of name-brand psychotropic medications such as Valium, Zoloft, Xanax, Dexedrine and Paxil. They make a fashion statement and a political one. Wearing the jewellery has become for some people, particularly women, a badge of honour. They no longer feel ashamed at taking antidepressants, says Wolstenholme. They no longer have to hide the fact from friends and coworkers. “For me,” she adds, “it's about being honest. Society likes to sweep this under the rug.” The 37-year-old artist, who majored in sculpture at The Nova Scotia College of Design and received a Master of Fine Arts in goldsmithing from New York State University, began her exploration of women's issues as a reaction to images of rail-thin women in the media. She created a 12 х8 wooden wardrobe that housed, instead of the dresses and shoes one might expect, fabric female genitals.From here, Wolstenholme created a seven-foot, five-sided padded cell reminiscent of a confessional. Locking women away within the confines of religion or in a mental institution was the old way of treating women, she explains. The new way is drugs. From wardrobes and padded cells, Wolstenholme moved to oversize reproductions of pills weighing as much as 150 pounds, reflecting the weight they carry in our society. The giant plaster sculptures — blindingly white, evoking sterility and pallor — made their first public appearance at “grunt,” a gallery of contemporary art in Vancouver, as part of a show called Desire, a travelling exhibition that recently had its last show in Halifax. Wolstenholme is now expanding her pharmacologic theme in a new show slated to open at the SAW Gallery in Ottawa in April 2002. The centerpiece of this work is, again, giant pills, this time arranged to look like daisies. The centre of each daisy is a yellow amitriptyline; the petals are white Buspar. “I like people to be able to look at my work and ‘get’ it,” Wolstenholme says. “I'm not into the ivory tower approach to art.” There doesn't seem to be any doubt that Wolstenholme is getting her message across. She has toured with Lilith Fair, the premiere rock festival for women musicians, selling her jewellery, and her exhibitions have been well received. Empathy is at the core of her work, Wolstenholme says. Having received medical treatment for depression several years ago, she empathizes with women who need to discuss their mental health openly and without embarrassment. She understands their desire to feel valued in a world that, historically, has been dismissive of their needs.

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