Visit to ... The Catching Dreams Exhibition November 2014

Last week, I visited the 'Catching Dreams' Exhibition at the South bank Centre, which holds the United Kingdom's annual national showcase of art by prisoners. The artworks featured in the show were created by prisoners, offenders on community sentences, secure psychiatric patients and immigration detainees. I found the entire exhibition to be very powerful and moving, for the very purpose of the Exhibition was to empower those whose voice was taken. Interestingly, the artwork that I found to be the most striking was those produced by secure psychiatric patients. The imagery conveyed in such pieces as 'Birds' were beautiful in execution. yet highly disturbing when viewed in the context of the artist's situation. Remembering that a key influence of the 1920's Surrealists was the work of the mentally ill, I was most inspired by the insight I felt I was given an insight into the thoughts and emotions of the artists. In relation to my project, 'Border, Time, City, Body', I feel as though the exhibition encapsulated the concept of breaking through a border, which interest me. The very act of channeling difficult emotions into highly expressive artworks is, in my opinion, breaking a personal border.

This piece in particular reminded me of the 'Tilling Fields' by Joan Miro. The juxtaposition of seemingly random images combined with loose lines and a startling palette highlighted the sense of chaos within this piece.

This was one of my absolute favourites. Produced by a patient in a secure psychiatric unit, the piece is made up of layers of illegible writing and lines. To me, This piece is very unsettling, as I can feel the intense chaos and desperation about the piece. As well as this, I managed to pull out the sentence 'New Home Soon' from the piece, which I found to be most moving. Having  a family background of mental illness, I am familiar with the system of sectioning and of the moving of patients to different units, and thus this piece resonated with me on a more personal level. In terms of the execution of the piece, I really like the layers of writing, for it not only leaves the artwork largely ambiguous but also awards it an abstract quality.