research

Whilst we attempted to make the necessary arrangements that would allow me access to various wards and patients, I continued to draw in a small pocket book, in the main atrium waiting area. Using a small sketchbook allowed me to work undercover and blend into the transient crowd of visitors, staff and patients that populate the area. Whilst it wasn't, in the initial stages, a conceived plan, a 'collection' began to form. The waiting areas are furnished with yellow bench seating and I began to notice that even when sitting together, in pairs or larger groups, people tend to close off into themselves and end up sitting alone, even when in company, on these chairs. Drawings created from this subject began to depict a collection of singular individuals, waiting in a bubble of their own anxiety or boredom, often attempting to create a sense of comfort with books, tablets, newspapers, magazines and phones. In almost all cases, the yellow seating acts as a collective signifier.

It began to become clear that there was a real possibility of not being granted access to any wards within the timeframe of this project. This was a cause for real concern and stress. Combined with a long period of 'artist's block' this led me to believed that I would not be able to complete the project either satisfactorily or on time. 
 
This realisation, in conjunction with the growing sense of a forming (all be it, unintended) collection, was enough for me to call a halt to the ongoing negotiations and change course. I decided that I would continue to build this collection of 'Waiting'; it was both the logistically sound direction but also the one that I wanted to complete.

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