I recently had the great honour of being commissioned by York NHS Trust to create a series of artworks for the NHS Reception Area within York Community Stadium. The Stadium building is home to four NHS outpatient departments.
The brief was to create work which contributes to a relaxing atmosphere in the space and which relates to the local communities and surrounding environment.
The artworks are presented as abstract landscapes, suggesting North Yorkshire’s rolling hills and colourful fields. However, each line within the landscapes also has a direct relationship to local communities and is derived from my research process, which involves creating and using relevant data.
The research involved randomly selecting fourteen postcodes from in and around York, representing the diversity of local communities. I then travelled from each postcode to the Stadium, tracking each journey with a GPS app. This resulted in fourteen GPS data sets, or ‘interesting lines’, each referencing both the use of the Community Stadium by York residents and the first principle of the NHS in providing a comprehensive service, available to all.
The lines have then been used to digitally create the ‘landscapes’ shown in the final work. i.e. the landscapes are directly created from the idea of the Stadium serving the needs of the people of York.
The series of three artworks was commissioned by the York Teaching Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and kindly funded by the Friends of York Hospital. The commission is part of a larger project to provide artwork in the NHS areas of the Stadium, with a collection of paintings loaned to the NHS by the Scott Creative Arts Foundation.
Reproduction Prints are available here. 20% of proceeds from sales of reproduction prints will be donated to York Hospitals Charity.
'14 Journeys of York'
Before & After
With grateful thanks to
and the Scott Creative Arts Foundation.