Artist talk with Catherine Mellinger and Adam Harendorf
Post-Part and Perinatal Mental Health
CAFKA and the City of Kitchener, Arts and Creative Industries, join in conversation with lead artist Catherine Mellinger and collaborator Adam Harendorf to discuss Post-Part, an inter-arts exhibition in multiple spaces across downtown Kitchener.
Post-Part draws on the written works of Charlotte Perkins Gilman and Barbara Ehrenreich, as well as takes visual inspiration from the contemporary collage movement and the RGB innovation of the Italian design duo Carnovsky.
It reimagines a 19th century-style brocade wallpaper pattern incorporating a "hidden" collage narrative, combined with an immersive auditory score to bring to life the experience of Postpartum Mood Disorders.
Using testimonies gathered from Kitchener-Waterloo as well as international LGBTQIA+, Black, and Indigenous birthing parents, the installation presents an opportunity to question and reflect on how far we have come in supporting birthing people during the perinatal period.
Sponsored by Schneider Haus National Historic Site and City of Kitchener.
Catherine Mellinger (she/her) is a mixed media collage artist who’s recent work centres on her experience as a mother living with mental illness. Mellinger has over a decade of experience working as an arts educator and arts outreach facilitator, and is a certified Expressive Arts Therapist. She is a mental health and perinatal mental health advocate for all birthing people.
Audio composer for Post-Part, Adam Harendorf is a Toronto based sound designer and composer whose work has been presented across Canada, off-Broadway, and internationally. He has designed plays, musicals and animated shorts for notable companies that include the Stratford Festival, Soulpepper Theatre, Neptune Theatre, YPT, and TED.