Computer collages as art therapy

When fabric artist Carolyn Lee Vehslage began creating computer collages, she intended them to represent her frustrations with computers and as a study of technology's impact on all of us. But the more she worked on them, the more the former computer network engineer began to understand that they represented "more than a discussion of technology and how it complicates our lives." "I finally realized they resonated so much with me because they reflected my bipolar disorder, which I've had all my life." Bipolar disorder is characterized by dramatic mood swings, going from intensely high to crushingly low - and then back again.

The episodes are accompanied by severe changes in energy and behavior. About 5.7 million American adults suffer from the disorder, also called manic depression, in any given year, according to National Institute of Mental Health statistics. Vehslage, who lives in Erial with her husband, Peter, and her ...