Post-Part Project

Post-Part is an inter-arts exhibition manifested by Pazit Cahlon, and created in partnership between Pazit Cahlon, Nat Janin, Catherine Mellinger and Adam Harendorf. In 2019 Catherine Mellinger became lead artist. Combining theatre installation, RGB filter technology, illustration, collage and audio, Post-Part takes inspiration from the short story The Yellow Wallpaper by Charlotte Perkins Gilman. Post-Part re-imagines a 19th century brocade wallpaper as a meeting place of experiences of Perinatal Mood and Anxiety Disorders. It calls attention to an experience that continues to be experienced at both increasing and disproportionate rates.

First exhibited as a room within a room installation in 2018, Post-Part has now been grown to include both in person exhibition and an interactive digital website. Post-Part has been exhibited in three locations, the final location as part of CAFKA21 facilitating an outdoor walking tour with an inter-active website that narrated the exhibition at each location.

It’s a personal project: the audio includes Mellinger sharing her own experiences with postpartum OCD after the birth of her first son. “I really wanted to question how far have we actually come,” says Mellinger. “How different really is that experience for birthing parents now compared to when Charlotte Perkins Gilman went through it? Within that time frame of 120 years, we’ve made advances but compared to the advancements of other medical inventions or movements, it’s really minimal.”

Mellinger has become a determined advocate for perinatal and postpartum mental health, pointing out how lagging support is especially when it comes to racial and sexual diversity.

From Re: Building Resilience article published in the Toronto Star, October 2020. Written by Sue Carter.

To view full details, visit Post-Part’s website