Drawing Patient A

Patient A is an adolescent GCSE student at school. I went to his school to meet him and to draw him. The art teacher was very helpful and we set up an area in the art class to do the portrait. Patient A was in a very good mood when I met him. A bit shy but very happy to talk once we where sitting down. He told me that his favourite subjects where art and drama and showed me some of his art-work. He wants to go to college after his GCSEs and learn a trade rather than going to university. He has a cousin who is an artist and he told me that he has made a sculpture that he will send for thousands of pounds, Patient A seemed impressed by his cousin. We talked about being at school and  thinking that anyone over 20 is old and how that changes as you get older yourself. He had two badges on that said “CITIZEN” which had been given to him in reward for a good deed he had done for the school. He is also a sports captain and told me he loves playing basketball and football at break-time with his friends. We talked about the canteen, pizza, cheese toasties portugese custard tarts, portugal and Ireland. He sat still and really concentrated for over an hour and said he enjoyed the experience of being drawn. When I had finished the drawing he brought one of his friends into the class to show him the drawing and seemed proud and said thank-you. Below you can see self portraits A made in his GCSE art class.

Drawing Dr F

Dr F came to the Maudsley as a medical student on a short elective and worked in the emergency clinic with a famous psychiatrist called Antony Clare and enjoyed this.When a medical student on my surgical placement her consultant noted how hopeless she was in surgery but how good she was with patients and suggested she do psychiatry. Her interests are campaigning and teaching on improving the lot of children in the UK and she is also involved in an NGO which helps asylum seekers in detentiton to get treatment and get out when necessary.

Dr F has a wonderful realtionship with her patient (Patient C). Her patient attributes her full recovery to meeting Dr F. When I asked what they had in common she replied “So much! I have just been luckier in my life experiences”.

She is a lover of nature and finds peace when walking or cycling in the country side or by the sea. She love elephants, wild animals and birds.

She is influenced by the work of John Bowlby and his followers carrying out attachment research has influenced the way she works and is the conceptual basis for her understanding of  working with survivors of abuse and of torture.

She has a collection of miniature houses, animals and pots made by south americans, who she lived with as a kid.

When I asked her what she would change about psychiatry she said “Remove the right to section people”

Drawing Dr J at Bethlem Hospital/River House 06/08/09

Drawing Dr J

Dr J plays the violin regularly, he especially likes Wagner and Bach

Drawing Dr J in the Pottery Art Therapy room in River House 06/08

I drew this dried Dogfish in Dr Js Lower Abdomen and a sea-horse inside its abdomen, because of the medical symbolism of the sea-horse and its formal resemblance to a Treble Clef.

Drawing Dr J in the Pottery Art Therapy room in River House 06/08/09

Dr J plays the violin regularly, he especially likes Wagner and Bach

Royal College of Physicians, Medicinal Garden

Nicholas Culpeper wrote in his Herbal that Borage and Fumitory mixed together, cool and cleanse the temper and the blood. Here I am drawing them in the heart, which is associated with hot temperaments in Hippocratic medicine.

Drawing Snake Specimens/Masks

I drew this snake skin from the Grant Museum into the fabric of Fredrics hat.

The patient Fredric is from the Republic of Congo and remembered masks and rituals through his drawings.

Some of Fredrics Drawings had animal spirits, chimerical men and snakes emerging from human heads. Here I am drawing this snake skeleton emerging from the head within the portrait.

Fredrics’ Drawing

These are symbols Fredric has Drawn, each with a specific meaning. I have drawn these into his portrait.

Bethlem Hospital: First Appointment 03/08/09

I met Forensic Psychiatry Patient Fredric (pseudonym) in his ward at Bethlem Hospital at 1pm, 03/08/09. He showed me his drawings and we talked about his history and the narrative within the drawings. I made this drawing/notes directly afterwards.

Introduction and Brief History

In April 2008, I was invited by Jerwood Curator Sarah Williams to propose a collaborative art project for the Jerwood exhibition “An Experiment in Collaboration”.
I asked Dr Tim McInerny (portrayed above) to work with me in order to create Portraits of Patients and Psychiatrists at Bethlem Hospital, London.

We made four portraits, three patients and one psychiatrist in two months. This was a very short length of time to explore the ideas and possibilities of the work. After the success of “An Experiment in Collaboration, we applied for a 2009 Wellcome Trust Arts Award and following the success of the Application, we are now beginning a six month development of the Project.
This Blog will document the working processes, ideas and images during the six months.

Exhibited in ‘An Experiment in Collaboration”, Jerwood Space 2008

Exhibited in ‘An Experiment in Collaboration”, Jerwood Space 2008