Solo Exhibition – Trails of Engagement

My first solo exhibition was an innovative research study. It focused on the developing interdisciplinary, zeitgeist movement that brings together a unique collaboration between creativity, research and healthcare.

The solo exhibition ‘Trials of Engagement’ was the last project in my Master Degree in Creative Practice at Leeds College of Art. The course widened my practice, extended the breadth of engagement across disciplines and was the most challenging 2 years of my life; emotionally and physically. I worked with Leeds Hospital NHS Trust, Clinical Research Facility and the Cancer Research UK Leeds Centre, and using their data as a storytelling mechanism. This exhibition was designed to raise awareness of clinical research through the production of aesthetically pleasing, visual responses with the potential to be displayed in a research setting. The aim was to engage, enlighten and inform people involved in clinical research through originality and uniqueness – a refreshing approach that breaks away from the usual staid vapidity.

Through my work and research words (verbal communication) became fundamental and integral to this project through the dialogue between patient and clinician. This collaboration of research, healthcare and creativity resulted in an exhibition at Leeds College of Art. This short film is a summary of the course and my practice.

I donated the exhibition panels to Leeds Hospital NHS Trust and were installed in their new Innovation and Research Centre’s boardroom at the hospital in June 2017. This is a perfect setting to generate discussion, raise awareness and connect healthcare and creativity together. The feedback to the installations was immense and overwhelmingly positive which makes me feel very proud to have embarked on this journey with Debbie Bernie and her team. I hope the installations in their permanent home will continue to create a unique opportunity to develop a narrative for the future.