Amaranthine is a story of profound personal change. Following a discussion with care providers, my friend and model Madeline opted to wean herself off lithium, which regulated her mood with a rather heavy hand. In our conversations, she felt the loss of those parts of herself deeply and decided that she wanted them back.
This work questions how and why we medicate people and the inherent biases in the medical systems against women and queer people with complex life experiences. Especially in mental health, women are over-medicated and under-served by those who are meant to care for them. The risks of not medicating and its associated freedoms are explored visually throughout this set to create a new standard of care that liberates and serves the people it is supposed to.
This was produced in direct collaboration with Madeline Nicholson - this is her story told through images. It is also my own.
For the better part of a decade, I have been fighting severe anxiety and depressive episodes. My frustration with my state of being, as well as my fear of not being able to get better, made its way into our conversations and, therefore, this body of work. Some parts of me will never function the way they should. There is both grief and freedom in these differences.
