"I didn’t realize how important it is not to tell the truth"

May 15, 2024 11:57 PM

The Bloggess (Jenny Lawson) has posted about finding art made by a woman, Laura Perea, who was in a psychiatric hospital from the 1940s. She describes what she has discovered about Laura Perea's life and family, and reproduces her art, in three posts: Help me solve a haunting art mystery?; Art mystery possibly solved?; Uncovering the mystery of L. Perea and trying to erase the stigma of mental illness. Content warning: death by suicide of one of Laura Perea's family members.

The San Antonio Express-News has some more information. Lawson is planning an exhibition of Laura Perea's art.

posted by paduasoy (10 comments total)

Wow. The waiting room image is so powerful. And this is a moving, sad story. Thank you for posting this.
posted by i_am_joe's_spleen at 1:56 AM on May 16 [4 favorites]

I’ve been listening to a lot of early Ella Fitzgerald songs lately, and coming across a reference to The Dipsy Doodle created a weird feeling of connection across time, that Laura Perea had also listened to that same song.
posted by Kattullus at 2:46 AM on May 16 [5 favorites]

Those are potent artworks.

And, of course, the asylum sounds like a horror show. Like prisons, they serve to get people out of sight, not meaningfully help them. Underfunding leads to understaffing which inevitably leads to abuse. It’s monstrous.
posted by GenjiandProust at 4:25 AM on May 16 [5 favorites]

Those artworks are haunting.
posted by Kitteh at 4:58 AM on May 16 [1 favorite]

Those paintings are really amazing. Haunting, yes, but also beautiful with a sense of colour and shape that I find very compelling. I hope there are more L. Perea works out there and that Jenny is able to attract enough attention to this story to have people find them and share them with the world.
posted by jacquilynne at 6:36 AM on May 16 [3 favorites]

this is such an amazing story, and what haunting artwork
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 10:55 AM on May 16

I like the artwork. I don’t quite have the words to describe it, but there is a subtle intensity to it.

The painting of people waiting for ECT (EST in the post) is striking, particularly their facial expressions. Most likely from the timelines described by the blog author, they would have been waiting for what we now call unmodified ECT, as in without general anesthetic and neuromuscular blockade. I perform (so-called modified) ECT as a doctor and I still have a hard time wrapping my mind around the desperation that would lead someone to get ECT before the use of anesthesia. The woman on the far right, comforting her neighbour, seems to express it. Current ECT practice, while it still carries risks, is vastly safer than the old days, and very effective for many illnesses.
posted by sillyman at 5:41 PM on May 16 [5 favorites]

Jenny Lawson is a treasure. I’m so glad those pieces ended up with her. She is the right person for them.
posted by ThatCanadianGirl at 8:19 PM on May 16 [4 favorites]

I was interested in the posts partly because I've been finding out about my great-aunt recently. She was in the Blitz as a teenager and lived with facial injuries as a result. She had mental ill health as an adult, time in hospital, and ECT. I have some of her artwork from school, and photographs she took of her family and cats - feel I ought to write about her life in some way, but not sure what or how. Just another damaged life with a lot of pain in it.
posted by paduasoy at 12:53 AM on May 17 [5 favorites]

Jenny Lawson has posted an exciting update today, she has found and talked to a friend of Laura Perea's, and discovered more about her life.
posted by 5_13_23_42_69_666 at 1:35 PM on June 4 [7 favorites]