Nelson artist Karolina Gorton’s experience of perinatal depression not only sparked her creative instinct, but has also driven her desire to help others who have experienced similar issues.
From that wellspring, the Blue Stories Project has been developed, which links an online repository of people’s stories of their lived experience and a series of regional art exhibitions through a nationwide poster campaign using images by Ms Gorton.
Lisa Allan, a masters student at the University of Otago, met Ms Gorton through the Nelson Fringe Festival, which Ms Allan founded, and is assisting Blue Stories Project as it sets up around New Zealand.
"It’s something that is not that widely recognised and which many people don’t recognise when they start to feel what they feel," Ms Allan said.
"We want people to know that there is support there if they need it."
Although having no personal experience of perinatal depression knowing Ms Gorton, who formerly worked on theatre projects with the Allans, forged the connection which brought Ms Allan on board.
"One of my jobs has been to look at all the personal stories and give them a very fine edit for spelling and things like that, but of course as you are reading them you can’t help but be affected as an empathetic person.
"I know for Karolina herself, having gone through perinatal depression and having read all the stories and created the portraits of the people involved, it has been a very emotional process for her."
Blue Stories Project posters have just gone up around Dunedin, and a southern regional exhibition is scheduled to open at the Frankton library in Queenstown in mid-November.
Several Otago and Southland families are also expected to tell their stories as part of Blue Stories Project’s online campaign.
"It is good to have compassion for anybody really, because you don’t know what is happening in their lives," Ms Allan said.
"It is a much bigger occurrence than probably most of the population realise, because one in four people will experience perinatal depression, which is huge."
