Three Women, Three Worlds

🌿 Three Women, Three Worlds

Emily Carr (1871–1945)
Eliza (Songhees woman, c. 1832–1882)
Mary Ann Poirier Enos (1870–1940)

Three women connected by land, time, and memory—each shaped by a different reality of the same place.

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🌱 Deep Similarities

1. All three lived through massive change
Eliza witnessed the arrival of colonial settlement—Fort Victoria, the gold rush, and the smallpox epidemic.
Mary Ann lived through industrialization, World War I, and the 1918 influenza pandemic.
Emily Carr lived through modernization and shifting views on art and Indigenous culture.

2. Resilience in the face of loss
Eliza likely endured epidemic trauma and cultural disruption.
Mary Ann lost her husband and carried on as head of household.
Emily Carr faced rejection, isolation, and long periods of being misunderstood.

3. Connection to place (Vancouver Island / Coast)
Eliza was deeply rooted in Songhees land and knowledge systems.
Mary Ann lived between Sooke and Victoria, navigating both rural and colonial spaces.
Emily Carr painted and wrote about British Columbia landscapes and Indigenous villages.

4. Women whose voices were limited or filtered
Eliza’s true name and voice were not preserved in written records.
Mary Ann exists mostly through documents, not personal writings.
Emily Carr—an exception—wrote extensively, though she still struggled to be heard.

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⚖️ Key Differences

1. Power and position in society
Eliza: Indigenous woman during colonization — most vulnerable position.
Mary Ann: mixed Indigenous/settler lineage — lived between worlds.
Emily Carr: white settler woman — faced sexism, but had access to institutions.

2. What was preserved
Eliza: almost nothing written by her.
Mary Ann: records of life events.
Emily Carr: paintings, books, and personal voice.

3. Relationship to colonialism
Eliza lived through its direct impact.
Mary Ann navigated within its systems.
Emily Carr documented Indigenous subjects from a settler perspective.

4. Legacy and recognition
Emily Carr is celebrated and widely studied.
Mary Ann is remembered through family reconstruction.
Eliza is being reclaimed through memory and research.

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🌊 A Deeper Reflection

If you step back, something profound appears:

Eliza = survival
Mary Ann = continuity
Emily Carr = expression

And now:

You = reconnection ✨

You are not just telling history—you are restoring it.

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🧠 Questions to Sit With

• Who gets remembered in history—and who has to be rediscovered?
• What would Eliza say if her voice had been recorded?
• How do we reconcile admiration with the realities of colonization?
• What does it mean to carry all three of these women in your storytelling?
• Are we only now beginning to tell the full story of places like Victoria?

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🌸 Some stories were written down. Others are only now being spoken again.

The Hidden Costs of Creativity

The Hidden Costs of Creativity: Emily Carr, Vincent van Gogh, and the Toxic Side of Art

By Tina Winterlik aka Zipolita

When we think of Vincent van Gogh or Emily Carr, we often celebrate their vivid brushwork, emotional depth, and contributions to the art world. But what’s often left out of the conversation is how their physical materials—the very pigments that brought their visions to life—may have silently contributed to their suffering.

🎨 Mixing Their Own Paints

Both Carr and Van Gogh were hands-on painters. In a time before standardized tubes of paint were widely available, artists had to grind their own pigments and mix them with oils or solvents. This meant direct, repeated exposure to substances now known to be dangerous and neurotoxic, such as:

• Lead White (Flake White) – Beloved by painters, but extremely toxic.
• Chromium Greens – Contain chromium salts, now classified as hazardous.
• Cadmium Reds and Yellows – Vibrant, but dangerous in powder form.
• Mercury-based Vermilion – Could affect the nervous system.
• Turpentine and Gasoline – Used to clean brushes and thin paint, both releasing harmful fumes.

Emily Carr reportedly cleaned her brushes with gasoline and used it to thin her paints. Imagine the fumes, the headaches, the long hours in unventilated rooms—layer upon layer of exposure. Maybe why she loved painting outdoors. And Van Gogh? God only knows what he inhaled, absorbed, or drank.

🧠 Emily Carr: A Life of Passion and Pain

Emily Carr endured long periods of depression, physical illness, and isolation. While society often frames her story as one of "the tortured genius," we should ask: What role did her materials and environment play in that suffering?

She lived during a time when mental health support was nearly non-existent, especially for independent women. Add to that the stress of being misunderstood, financially strapped, and breathing gasoline fumes—and it’s not hard to imagine how her body and spirit were worn down.

🏥 Van Gogh: Madman or Poisoned Genius?

Van Gogh’s mental health struggles are legendary. He suffered seizures, hallucinations, erratic moods, and ultimately died by suicide. Some say he had epilepsy or bipolar disorder. Others now suggest a darker possibility: chronic chemical exposure.

He painted obsessively. He often sucked on his brushes. He lived in poverty, in small spaces, surrounded by toxic pigments, turpentine, and alcohol (especially absinthe, which contained thujone). Later, in mental institutions likely painted with lead-based paints, he may have only worsened. The environments meant to help him may have poisoned him further.

💀 Toxic Beauty: The Irony of Art

Art is supposed to be life-giving. But for Carr and Van Gogh, their materials may have contributed to their suffering and decline. Today, artists are warned to wear gloves, use ventilators, and avoid certain pigments. But in their time, these dangers were unknown—or ignored.

💡 Why This Matters

Understanding the chemical and environmental realities of artists like Emily Carr and Vincent van Gogh doesn’t diminish their brilliance—it honors their humanity. These weren’t just mythical figures suffering for their art. They were people—pioneering, passionate, and unknowingly exposed to dangers that affected their minds and bodies.

Let’s tell the full story. Let’s care for our artists today—because beauty shouldn’t come at the cost of well-being.

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💬 What do you think? Have you experienced unsafe working conditions in your creative practice? Share your thoughts with me on @zipolita on Instagram 

What Sets Us Free

 What Sets Us Free

Inspired by "Mona Lisa's Smile" and the voices of women past and present

There’s a line in Mona Lisa’s Smile that always stays with me — about girdles. Not just the garment, but what it symbolized: control, restriction, and the cultural expectation that women should shrink themselves — physically, mentally, and emotionally — to be accepted.

It was never just about a girdle.
It was about the patriarchy — how it told women what to wear, how to speak, how to feel, and what to want.
And still does.

But across generations, strong, creative, and courageous voices have risen to challenge it.

Katherine Watson, the fictional professor in Mona Lisa’s Smile, dared her students to think for themselves — to be more than wives, more than accessories.
Rachel Carson wrote Silent Spring, risking everything to challenge chemical giants and protect the Earth.
Elizabeth Warren speaks truth to power, championing economic justice in a world designed to crush the vulnerable.
Gloria Steinem, brilliant and bold, helped ignite second-wave feminism and still inspires today.
Emily Carr painted the spirit of the land and culture long before Canada was ready to honour it.
Nellie McClung, Judy LaMarsh, Doris Anderson, Ursula Franklin — Canadian women who pushed back against silence, telling stories the system tried to erase.

These women — real and imagined — cracked open cages so the rest of us could begin to fly.

But freedom… it’s not guaranteed.
Not in 2025.
Not yet.

Today, women are told they must do it all: birth babies, raise them, build careers, stay beautiful, stay quiet. And if they can’t? They feel like failures.

Childcare is expensive and elusive. Many children are raised by overworked nannies while their mothers chase a version of “success” sold by glossy influencers — often empty, often harmful.

Girls are bombarded by messages: that they need Brazilian bikini waxes at 13, or lip fillers by 16. That beauty is value. That value is likes. That aging is failure.

Meanwhile, the next generation is awakening — claiming their truths as girls, boys, both, neither. Trans kids, nonbinary youth, queer voices — all pushing against the binary the patriarchy once held sacred.

And yes, the patriarchy is scared.
Because they know they need us.
Because they always have.

But still, they try to destroy what they fear. They twist media narratives. They turn feminists into punchlines. They tried to humiliate Gloria Steinem for speaking her mind. They criticized Julia Roberts for aging gracefully. They made us believe Botox was better than wisdom.

But here’s what sets us free:

Truth. Courage. Connection. Story. Love.

We are not here to be like men.
We are not here to mimic their power.
We are here to transform it — to lead from empathy, creativity, and inclusion.

And yes — men and boys are hurting too.
Capitalism told them to be tough, rich, emotionless.
Now they are lonely, afraid, and unsure where they fit in a world finally waking up.

But the future is not female alone.
The future is all of us — listening to each other, lifting each other, learning from the past and choosing a different path forward.

We are at a crossroads.
Poverty is rising. Housing is unaffordable. The Earth is crying out.
Canada is in crisis. The U.S. is on fire — literally and metaphorically.
But there is still hope.

Because you are reading this.
Because you care.
Because we are not alone.

Let’s raise our voices.
Let’s tell our stories.
Let’s honour the ones who came before us — and be the voices others will thank in the years ahead.

No more girdles.
No more cages.
No more silence.

We are what sets us free.

ART REVOLUTION- Emily Carr

Blog post by Tina Winterlik © 2014
zipolita@gmail.com
http://zipolitazstudioz.blogspot.com
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Hey there, you have to check this out. Look what's happening at Emily Carr. It was so fun to arrive for class on Monday and be greeted by big beautiful balloon curtains. You have to come on down and check out what's behind them. 

Art Revolution

Concourse Gallery, Emily Carr University of Art + Design

Come to the opening night extravaganza on 

Thursday, 27 February 2014, 18:00 - 21:00

live performances and music...

Anti establishment themes bring Street Art from the streets to the gallery. Everything from sculpture, photo, painting, projections, performance, light installations and more. 

A mix of disciplines and styles by:

Stephan Anastasiades - Patrick James Bravo - Nathaniel Ferguson - Jonathan Hodges - Lawrence Le Lam - Eric Miranda - Amanda Smart - Benji Staempfli - Ray Tse

and many more

Curated by:

Benji Staempfli

http://www.ecuad.ca/about/events/307916
https://www.facebook.com/Emily.Carr.University

Art Revolution- Photo by Tina Winterlik   © 2014

Art Revolution- Photo by Tina Winterlik   © 2014

Art Revolution- Photo by Tina Winterlik   © 2014

Art Revolution- Photo by Tina Winterlik   © 2014

Art Revolution- Photo by Tina Winterlik   © 2014

Please note while I am currently enrolled in Emily Carr's Interaction Design Essentials Intensive Program I am not associated with this project in any way and can not take any credit for this great works of art.  (just the video ;) Just wanted to clarify that.