Exhibitions and Artist in Residence

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Group Exhibitions

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British group shows include exhibitions at the ICA, London: Leeds City Art Gallery; Ceolfrith Gallery, Sunderland; Southampton Art Gallery; The Mappin, Sheffield; and The Peacock Gallery, Northern Ireland.

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Solo Exhibitions

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Solo shows include exhibitions at The Elizabethan Gallery, Wakefield: Blackfriars, Boston; The Crescent Arts, Scarborough; Buxton Art Gallery; Derby City Gallery; Bracken Press Gallery, Scarborough and Yorkshire Television Centre Gallery, Leeds.

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Artist in Residence

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Through-out my painting career I have been involved in a number of Artist in Residence Projects. They have covered a wide range of ideas and involved all levels of creative ability.

Some have simply been short bursts of fun, involving highly enthusiastic eight year olds;  as in  Wheatley Middle School, and the 'Wakefield Artist in Schools' initiative.  

However, the  Psychiatric Hospital Residency, was altogether much more serious in it's aims and objectives.

 

 St Mary's Psychiatric Hospital Residency

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The project took the form of a large triptych; depicting  three stages of mental ill health and breakdown; the initial hospitalisation; hospital treatment; and returning home.

Staff were asked not to 'add' their opinions, and not to place any brush marks on to the paintings. My role was to show patients how to visually express themselves  to  record their  experiences;  their internal anxieties and darkest fears,  all created without any involvement, or intervention from hospital staff.

For the patients it was  a genuinely liberating experience, Though for Nursing staff, and  some doctors, there  were initial concerns. 

what would patients express and put on the canvases, without their input and guidance?  

how  would  they represent the hospital?

Luckily, the hospital director completely supported my initiative, and was keen to see the outcome;  saying if the hospital was shown in a negative light, the staff would then  know they had to change their methods of care.

 

On my part  it demanded a completely different teaching approach; lots of quiet, reflective discussion - with no time restrictions or inflexible work schedules.

Patients had good and bad days, and that meant i had to be prepared for unproductive days as well as unresolved situations.

The patients came together as a group and discussed their individual experiences, and together , (with my visual guidance and support), they produced a wonderful, thought provoking triptych with real depth and understanding.

the figures they depicted were without gender, (to show mental ill health could effect anyone,  and was not gender specific). Everyone learned something about themselves in the course of the initiative; and gained self confidence as a result.

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At the end of the residency, (when the group had gone back into the community), I asked their permission to go back and  produce a series of pastels and paintings relating to the  pop-in centre.  I also asked the Director of the hospital if I could bring the group back to the hospital for lunch ; to show them  how far they had come in their recovery. Table clothes and flowers were laid on tables to give the room a 'restaurant' feel, and nursing staff made everyone welcome. 

The going back;  Became a positive experience , and gave them a new understanding as they quietly observed those who were newly admitted or receiving early treatment. It was a  complete revelation to the group; and it let them see for themselves just how far they had recovered. a somewhat happy ending to, what for me, was a deeply moving project.

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