Secret Gardens: Mental Health and Painting Gardens
Artworks depicting garden scenes have been created by world class artists for locked and secure mental health units to aid the recovery of patients.
Hospital Rooms
A friend of artist Tim A Shaw and curator Niamh White was sectioned in 2016. The ward she stayed in was cold, clinical and run down. Niamh and Tim decided to ask artists to transform these places so that they are restorative and beautiful.
The garden is a recurring motif that has emerged in many of the artworks that have ben created for these mental health units. Gardens tie us to the rhythms of nature, they are cared for and tended to, and they give us space to breathe. These qualities have provided inspiration for artworks that have offered solace and calm to people who are experiencing mental health difficulties such as psychosis and anxiety.
Forensic Mental Health
In 2019, Hospital Rooms worked with the Hellingly Centre, which provides care to people who have a severe mental health diagnosis and may have been in touch with the criminal justice system
First impressions
Hannah Brown reflects on her memory of visiting the Hellingly Centre, a forensic mental health unit in Sussex, England, for the first time.
Hannah Brown created a large site-specific wall painting of a woodland scene that joins three of the centre’s wards that are each named after native British trees: Ash, Oak and Willow.
Atrium, Hellingly Centre (2019) by Hannah BrownHospital Rooms
Hannah Brown, Hellingly Centre
This artwork transformed the atrium between three medium secure wards in Sussex, England.
'It's like walking into a wonderland.'
The view in the painting transitions from daytime to evening and has a path that splits in two at the centre, offering different directions for the viewer to travel in. This could be a metaphor for the recovery process.
Hannah Brown
‘From a personal point of view, I find being in nature very restorative. It’s a real refuge from daily life and I find it very comforting. I hoped that the painting would have a similar effect for the patients at the Hellingly Centre.'
Beautiful Gardens
Paul Greep, a peer support worker at the Hellingly Centre, tells us why access to beauty is important
Psychiatric Intensive Care Units
These wards provide mental health care and treatment for people whose acute distress, absconding risk and suicidal or challenging behaviour needs a secure environment beyond that which can normally be provided on an open ward
Psychiatric Intensive Care Units
Occupational Therapist Becky Davies explains the type of care provided in these spaces
Sitting Area (2018) by Aimee MullinsHospital Rooms
Aimee Mullins, Sitting Area
Aimee was struck by the enclosed nature of the unit. She created a sky that expands over the ceiling and a misty horizon disappears out of sight. It is abundant with trees, plant life and is accompanied by a pine and juniper scent that can be spritzed into the space by staff.
'It feels like sitting in a park.'
The artwork has had the power to transport patients to places outside of the hospital, and helped to facilitate respite from the ward
Aimee Mullins
'Somehow metaphorically the oxygen from the trees and the greenery could be something that helped you let your shoulders come down for whatever time you were going to be in there.'
A psychiatrist at this Psychiatric Intensive Care Unit said, 'I was really relieved to hear people just sit and contemplate the art in the garden scene because I sometimes do that when my thoughts are racing. I have on a couple of occasions taken a couple of minutes or even seconds to get that relief from the ward and from my thoughts.'
Pink Shadow (2017) by Tamsin RellyHospital Rooms
Tamsin Relly, Communal Lounge
Tamsin invited patients and staff to paint or draw their earliest memories of being in nature during creative workshops. In response, she designed the space in the hope that it would reflect the restorative and meditative qualities of being immersed in a botanical environments
Pink Shadow (2018) by Tamsin RellyHospital Rooms
'Aaaah I feel calmer already.’
The work aims to bring qualities of the outdoors in, with the elements and seasons alive in cycles of growth and expansion or rest and rejuvenation.
Tamsin said, ‘I dedicated this work to my mum, who lives courageously with ups and downs of bipolar. Growing up supporting her, I had exposure to various psychiatric care units in South Africa. She was very encouraging during my creative process for the project. She explained how in her experience, you can be in such a hypersensitive frame of mind that everything can feel heightened. Every bit of colour, warmth, or beauty can really mean the world to someone.'
Rehabilitation
Rehabilitation units are provided for adults with severe and enduring mental health problems who have ongoing symptoms and functional impairments and cannot manage independent community living,
even with support.
Meadow (2018) by Steve MacleodHospital Rooms
Steve Macleod, Gym
Steve spent time wandering around a local meadow photographing plant shadows to form the basis of his artwork for the gym in Bluebell Lodge.
Steve Macleod
Steve's experience of bipolar has informed his approach to working Hospital Rooms on mental health wards
Meadow (2018) by Steve MacleodHospital Rooms
‘Therapeutic’, ‘accommodating’ and ‘amazing’
This artwork was influenced by a cyanotype workshop Steve led for residents on a summer’s day in July. Cyanotype is a camera-less photographic process that produces a cyan-blue print and is made using paper treated with photosensitive chemicals, that is exposed to light.
Meadow
The natural world is a constant source of inspiration for Steve and he immerses himself in the landscapes he photographs to explore their effect on mental wellbeing and the imagination.
A psychologist at the unit said, ‘This was such a confidence boast for them (the patients) and gave them a real sense of value and achievement. The project has done more for the patient’s self-worth than we ever could have imagined.’
Many more artists have used the garden as a starting point for their artworks for Hospital Rooms
Dining Room, Garnet Ward (2017) by Michael O'ReillyHospital Rooms
Michael O'Reilly
Dining Room, Dementia Ward
The Recovery Corridor (2019) by Emma TalbotHospital Rooms
Emma Talbot, Recovery Corridor
Women's Rehabilitation Unit
Quiet Room (2017) by Aimee ParrottHospital Rooms
Aimee Parrott
Quiet Room, Dementia Ward
