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Among the artists commissioned for our project at Eileen Skellern 1, a psychiatric intensive care unit for women at The Maudsley Hospital, was South-African born Tamsin Relly. Working across a range of media, including painting, drawing and printmaking, Tamsin uses her practice to reflect on global climate change and explore notions of wilderness. The instability and impermanence of certain urban and natural environments is reflected in work which foregrounds the fluid and unpredictable qualities of painting and printmaking. Tamsin's research has included visiting and studying diverse and extreme locations, such as receding glaciers in Svalbard in the Arctic Circle and the fabricated oasis of Las Vegas.
Tamsin's dedication to our project at Eileen Skellern 1 and the sensitivity of her approach to creating work with and for the service users and staff was an inspiration to all of us at Hospital Rooms. So in this week's blog post we're shining a light on Tamsin's work at ES1, following its development, creation and ongoing impact.
Before - planning and development
The Main Sitting Area at Eileen Skellern 1, before its transformation by artist Tamsin Relly.
Bringing together our artists and staff from Eileen Skellern 1 months before the start of the project meant that close working partnerships were forged early on. Such meetings provided opportunities for Tamsin (bottom left) and our other artists to find out more about ES1 and its patients and the nature of a psychiatric intensive care unit.
On an artist residency at Hogchester Farm in West Dorset, Tamsin joined one of our planning meetings via Facetime, discussing with Hospital Rooms and members of the ES1 team her initial ideas for the project, examples of which we have on the table in front of us in the picture above. One of Tamsin's paintings can also be seen pinned to the back wall.
At the earliest opportunity Tamsin Relly visited Eileen Skellern 1 to show examples of her art, familiarise herself with the environment and get ideas for the work she would make for the unit.
Tamsin ran two workshops at Eileen Skellern 1 during the course of our project. In the first she invited service users and staff to paint or draw their earliest memories of being in nature. The work produced during the workshop, along with conversations Tamsin had with staff and service users, fed directly into the work she eventually made for ES1.
Tamsin started developing her ideas at her studio. In small scale test paintings, she refined shapes and colours that would become part of her multi-media installation at ES1.
Test painting on paper by Tamsin Relly
"My hope was to draw on the restorative and meditative qualities of spending time surrounded by plants and nature and to try and bring feelings of the outdoors in – the seasons, the elements, life alive in the cycles of growth and expansion or rest and turning inwards."
- Tamsin Relly
Tamsin settled on the idea of creating a large wall painting on site at Eileen Skellern 1, on top of which she would install a print of a work made off site: both figuratively and practically, Tamsin brought the outside in.
"I was drawn to the warmth and intimacy of something hand painted but knew how – for me - a certain freedom and subtlety of mark-making can get lost translating something into a large-scale wall painting. At the same time, I was curious about what an enlarged digital print might do for some of the images that come out of printmaking – taking a macro lens to the smallest pool of paint or mark."
- Tamsin Relly
Tamsin considers test works on paper and board
Direct to media print trials, produced in collaboration with Steve Macleod and his team at Metro Imaging.
Comparing different dibond test prints at Eileen Skellern 1. Dibond is an aluminium composite which is lightweight but strong, damage resistant and extremely flat - an ideal surface for printing high quality graphics.
Coproduction is intrinsic to the work we do at Hospital Rooms and is an absolute priority in every project when it comes to the kind of working relationships we aim to establish between artists, fabricators, service users and staff. Tamsin's sensitivity to the environment in which she would be working and thoughtful, empathetic consideration of how it might feel to live and work at ES1 was reflected in her wholehearted embrace of collaborative working right from the outset of the project. She involved service users and staff as much as possible in the development of her work, even using a bit of photographic trickery to insert her planned artwork into photographs of the Main Sitting Room and thus create images which would make it easier for service users and staff to visualise her ideas.
"Back in the studio, I worked on designs for a few different spaces in the ward at first. Then discussed the possibilities with staff, and service users, inviting them into the conversation, finding out where they felt I could contribute and where they thought my work would make the most sense within their day-to-day routine. I would say the staff chose more than I did in the end. They steered it. 'Hey we'd like it in the communal sitting room,’ they said. They got excited about having it in that space. "
- Tamsin Relly
During - making, on site and off
To develop and realise her ideas Tamsin also worked closely with London's foremost photographic and fine art print lab, Metro Imaging. The large scale print of Tamsin's work Pink Shadow which would be installed in ES1 was created using Metro Imaging's incredible direct to media printer, which will print an image onto pretty much any flat surface, including wood, glass, aluminium and slate. Identifying the best material on which to print her work, Tamsin worked with Metro's Creative Director Steve Macleod and his team. Steve is also a professional photographer and was not only one of our commissioned artists for our very first project but has been commissioned again by us for our current project at Bluebell Lodge. You can read about the cyanotype workshop he ran for staff and residents at Bluebell Lodge in a previous blog post, titled Bluebell Blueprints - chemistry, sunlight and creativity.
Tamsin and Steve had to bear in mind health and safety regulations when choosing a print surface for Tamsin's work. The work could not be framed or protected behind glass so would need to be digitally printed on a surface that was durable and damage resistant. The dibond surface which was eventually selected is lightweight but strong, scratch proof and can be wiped clean. The edges of the dibond print could be rounded off and it could be secured flat against the wall with tamper-proof screws. Importantly this robust material also guarantees a high quality printed image so the visual impact of Tamsin's work would not be compromised by the necessary practical considerations.
Tamsin at work in the Main Sitting Area at Eileen Skellern 1, installing her large scale print with the help of Hospital Rooms co-founder Niamh White.
"The service users were generally really supportive of the work as it was taking shape, I was touched and encouraged by that. I remember as it was wrapping up one lady walked in and said, 'Aaaah I feel calmer already.’ "
Tamsin's work schedule was carefully worked out with Eileen Skellern 1's ward manager and the core team to limit disruption to the ward and its existing daily timetable. We also worked very closely with staff to manage risk, continually reassessing the situation and keeping in mind the possibility of suddenly having to stop working if it was necessary. For all our projects, when we are working on site our aim is to keep risk minimal and not obstruct any day-to-day activities, whilst at the same time encourage ongoing interaction between patients and artists and facilitate opportunities for coproduction.
"The whole ward broke out into a round of applause when the print went up on the last day!"
- Tamsin Relly
Months of preparation and development and an intense few days of hard work on site resulted in a wonderful multi media installation which has transformed the Main Sitting Area.
After - Tamsin's work continues to make an impression
"You can connect using the art. I would always hope that , as a doctor, I consider the patient in front of me as a whole person with a whole life, not just who I'm seeing at that time. I think the artwork really reminds you of that. It prompts and ensures that you are continuing to think because it evokes conversations and stimulates things that you don’t normally get into during a normal clinical interview."
- Dr. Sophie Butler, Eileen Skellern 1
From an interview with Lara Johnson-Wheeler for Show Studio, reflecting on the impact of Hospital Rooms' Eileen Skellern 1 project.
After completing her work at Eileen Skellern 1 Tamsin ran a second workshop for patients on the ward, drawing and painting plants from still life.
In April Hospital Rooms celebrated the completion of our project at Eileen Skellern 1 with an exhibition and fundraising event at Griffin Gallery. This provided an opportunity for people to get an idea of the artworks on Eileen Skellern 1 our artists had created, and a sense of how the project as a whole had developed. Alongside photographs of the transformed Main Sitting Area, Tamsin displayed some of her preparatory works and created an impression of her Eileen Skellern 1 artwork by painting directly onto the gallery wall in a similar style.
At our exhibition and fundraising event at Griffin Gallery, artists commissioned for the Eieen Skellern 1 project celebrate its completion with members of the ward's core team: Clinical Services Lead Ronnie Adeduro, Consultant Psychiatrist Dr. Faisil Sethi, Senior Occupational Therapist Becky Davies, artists Paresha Amin, Tamsin Relly, Harold Offeh and Nengi Omuku, and SPR Dr. Sophie Butler.
Since the project's completion, Tamsin's work at Eileen Skellern 1 has appeared a number of times in the media. As part of a week dedicated to mental health Channel 4 news aired a feature about Hospital Rooms, shining a light on the work that we do and including interviews with service users, staff and artists from our projects at Eileen Skellern 1 and Snowsfields Adolescent Unit. The feature can still be viewed here. Tamsin's work has also appeared in both national and international press features.
With the assistance of Metro Imaging, Tamsin has produced a limited edition run of 25 unframed Gicleé prints of her Pink Shadow. Proceeds from the sale of the prints will be donated exclusively to Hospital Rooms to help us raise money for our most urgent upcoming projects.
You can purchase the print and find out more details about it on our website here.
Having developed strong bonds with the staff at ES1 whilst working on the project, Tamsin kindly donated this acrylic on board piece to the unit, to be displayed in the nurses' station.
Many thanks to Tamsin for permission to use images from her Instagram account in this blog post. Follow Tamsin @tamsinrelly to see more of her wonderful work and keep up to date with her progress.
Work like this would not be possible without the generosity and support of Hospital Rooms’ friends and donors. With your help we can transform more NHS mental health care environments across the UK and give more people the opportunity to be touched and inspired by the unique and radical work that we do.
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