Finding a voice through art

'My mother had Munchausen syndrome, and she imposed that on me as Munchausen syndrome by proxy,' Ms Stewart said. 

'Until I was 14 my mother imposed that illness on me and kept me prisoner from the world.'

Art was the one thing in her life that Patricia had control over. 

'It was completely fresh and unknown, and I thought to myself when I started, whatever I put on the page I am going to love, I am not going to criticise it because I was so negative about myself and anything that I did,' she said. 

'That sense of disconnection, disengagement was so severe, but art made a path I could travel on.' 

A selection of works from the Cunningham Dax Collection, including a portrait by Ms Stewart, has been displayed at Parliament House as part of the Mindscapes e​xhibition.  

The overall collection, the largest of its kind in Australia, comprises of more than 16,000 pieces of work by Victorian artists with lived experiences of mental ill health and psychological trauma. 

It dates back to the 1940s, when founder Dr Eric Cunningham Dax was overseeing a lot of the mental health institutions in Victoria.  

Dr Dax saw the therapeutic benefits of artmaking for people who were experiencing mental health issues and/or psychological trauma and saw a lot of value in keeping and protecting these artworks so they could be shared with the greater community.  

In 2012, The Dax Centre, part of SANE Australia, was opened in Parkville. It is a safe space for emerging artists with lived experiences of mental ill health to exhibit their work while simultaneously reducing stigma towards mental health issues.

The Dax Centre Gallery Manager Eliza Murley said the exhibition at Parliament House focused on portraits from the collection.  

'We were inspired by all the portraits in Queen’s Hall and wanted to look into our own collection and see how portraits were represented and bring that into the space,' she said.  

'It's really exciting that the leaders of our state will be able to see and learn more about the work that we do and learn more about the incredible stories that these artists tell through their artwork. 

'It's such a powerful thing to be able to express yourself and express your lived experience creatively and for people to learn from that and hopefully go towards our mission of breaking down stigma about mental illness.'

Ms Stewart said she felt lost for words seeing her own self portrait next to the portraits of past state premiers.

'Having my artwork in Queen’s Hall is the latest most exciting thing in my life,' she said.  

SANE Australia Board Chair Dr Caroline Aebersold said naming the exhibition Mindscapes talked to the very personal story that is told through a portrait. 

'As you can see in contrast to the more traditional portraits on the surrounding walls, many of the collection are abstracted, surreal and colourful and quite diverse,' she said.  

'Where a landscape can capture the story of the physical surroundings, these portraits can be seen to represent a mindscape offering insight into the artists' internal lived experiences and emotional states.'

The exhibition came about when Legislative Council President Shaun Leane reached out to The Dax Centre for artwork that could be loaned for display in his office at Parliament House. 

So moved by the artworks provided, he subsequently invited The Dax Centre to showcase more artists from the collection at an exhibition in Queen’s Hall.

'The artworks are special but the descriptors around the artists and their experiences and for many their explanations about not necessarily being able to express themselves through any other form of therapy than art is so powerful,' he said.