Yukon artists share mental illness experiences in 'Just Breathe' exhibit

Yukon artist Sandra Storey says people have been using shapes and drawings to express their emotions since pre-historic times, so it's no surprise that art can be used to help deal with a mental illness.

When Storey was approached by Cheri Van Delst, a mental health practitioner, about curating an art exhibit on mental illness, it was an easy sell. For her part, Van Delst wanted to bring more public awareness to mental illness. 

"One of the things that I was aware of is just how many people I work with use art, or dance, or music as a way of expressing their struggles or a way of coping with them," Van Delst says. 

The result of the collaboration between Van Delst and Storey is an exhibit called "Just Breathe," which opened at Whitehorse's North End Gallery last week. It features the work of Emma Barr, Brianne Bremner, Josée Carbonneau, Neil Graham and Storey, who used the painting, photography, sculpture and sewing with fish scales to share their mental illness stories. 

Storey says all the artists she approached about being in the show said yes. 

"I think it says a lot about the courage of the individual artist," she says. "It's the community we live in and the tolerance and compassion that have changed a lot of our society." 

The show's opening coincided with Mental Illness Awareness Week. "Just Breathe" is on display at the North End Gallery in Whitehorse until the end of October.