Eighty-Six Reasons for Asylum Admission by Kimberly Chapman
August 1, 2023 – December 2, 2023. An opening reception and panel discussion for this exhibit will be held on Wednesday, October 4.
Lynn Rodeman Metzger Galleries
Ohio porcelain sculptor Kimberly Chapman’s Eighty-Six Reasons for Asylum Admission closely examines why women were sent to asylums and the botched diagnoses and treatments they received.
“Early asylums were brutal places, especially for women,” says Chapman, who states the fairer sex was the prime focus of male physicians, especially during the Victorian era. “It was a convenient way for husbands and fathers to keep opinionated, unruly or inconvenient women and girls in line.”
Chapman, who graduated from the Cleveland Institute of Art in 2017, says the title for the exhibition was taken from the document “86 Reasons for Admission” published by West Virginia’s Trans-Allegheny Lunatic Asylum, 1864-1889. Imaginary Female Trouble, Immoral Life, Laziness, Menstrual Deranged, Novel Reading, Fits, Religious Enthusiasm, Bad Company, Egotism, Female Disease, Time of Life, Grief, Tobacco and Masturbation were listed as common day grounds for asylum abolishment.
Known for tackling difficult issues like silencing women, domestic abuse, the refugee crises and American school shootings, Chapman’s delicate, ethereal white porcelain sculptures are seen through the female lens. Additional work can be viewed on her website or on Instagram @KimberlyChapmanSculptor.
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