Online Talk · Performing Hysteria: Portraits of Hysteric Patients and Their Impact on Female Representation with Lucy Bink

7pm ET (NYC time)
Monday July 27, 2026

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Hysteria was once the only mental disorder exclusively attributed to women. According to feminist theory, it functioned as a tool to control women’s health, behavior, and expression. Though no longer a medical diagnosis, the label “hysteric” still lingers, often used to describe women who defy patriarchal norms.

In this talk—based on her recent article “Performing Hysteria: Psychiatric portraits of hysteric patients and their impact on female representation”—research-based artist Lucy Bink will discuss portraits of women diagnosed with hysteria. Focusing a series of photographs taken between 1876 and 1880 at Salpêtrière Hospital in Paris—when the neurological disorder was medicalized under the direction of Jean-Martin Charcot—she will reflect on the negative repercussions of the era’s treatment and the influence these portraits had on Western representations of femininity. What did it mean to be classified as hysteric? And what role did photography play?

Further, this talk will explore how the label of the “hysteric” can be reclaimed, as exemplified by the women of (post-)punk, who utilize performative rage as a form of protest. Looking at bands such as Amyl and the Sniffers and Babes in Toyland, we will follow the speaker’s journey of connecting the 19th-century portraits to our current visual culture.

Lucy Bink (2001) is a research-based and feminist artist who investigates themes of gender, power, and history. Focusing on female representation in visual culture and historical narratives, she challenges patriarchal perspectives on topics such as menstruation, hysteria, menopause, and anger. By revisiting these subjects, she aims to show how they have been misunderstood, silenced, or pathologized.

Lucy works with photography, text, textiles, archival research, and photographed performance, blending reflective and intuitive methods. She uses photography to create an interplay between vulnerability and resilience, combining strong textures and dark colors with clinical elements. Her images often involve strong body language, symbolic meaning, and heavy contrast. Through photography, she investigates how acts of looking and being looked at shape identity and agency.

Empathy is central to her creative process, guiding the exploration of personal and collective histories. Using a multifaceted research approach, she engages with academic, literary, and visual sources alongside conversations, observations, and personal experiences. This approach helps her to weave together knowledge and emotion, analyzing how the personal intersects with the political.