Faces of Health

'Faces of Health' An exhibition of Paintings and Drawings at the Free Space Gallery, Kentish Town Health Centre, Kentish Town, London NW5 Charlotte Harker conceived the project of drawing and painting staff at the Kentish Town Health Centre in late summer 2011. Since last October she has been visiting the Centre to photograph members of staff for this project. With these photographs as well as his recollections of each visit she returned to her studio to produce a series of line drawings and paintings. Her exhibition Faces of Health developed in collaboration with the Free Space Gallery ( see www.freespacegallery.org ) is an exhibition which showcases these paintings and drawings. This project has allowed for the first time the staff to become actively involved in the arts programme that operates within the Health Centre. It has also enabled the artist to contextualize a new body of work and to develop her practice. The project has also required the artist to explore new processes in the making of paintings and drawings. In contrast to her usual, more solitary working routine, Charlotte has been spending much more time with people. This project has required Charlotte to visit the centre regularly and this change of pace and tempo has changed the mood and tempo of her own work. No visual reference is made within the paintings and drawings to the environment of the Health Centre but the work is united by its specific context both in its creation and display. By presenting the work in this way the Artist thought this an interesting contrast to the very specific association of the portraits. On each visit to the centre Charlotte asked some staff members whether she could take their photograph as material for a drawing and painting. This has been relatively brief interactive process and the Artist knows little about those she photographs other than their name and perhaps their role at the Health Centre. Charlotte aimed through the process of drawing and painting to reveal more about those she has met and about her own practice. Another aim of the project is to create a collective sense to the work. The Faces of Health exhibition is both a documentation of the project so far and a document of that collectiveness. Within the context of the Charlotte’s practice the project has also highlighted aspects of the relationship between painting, photography, mark making/drawing and abstraction. In the Faces of Health Exhibition the drawings represent an important part of the project both as works in their own right but also as information for the paintings. The paintings themselves reveal evidence of the history of their making resulting in visceral and textural surfaces in contrast to the smooth surface of the photographic material on which they are based. In making these portraits the Artist has aimed to capture likeness and specific characteristics of the person portrayed. This project has also highlighted the potential of the crossover of Art and Healthcare Environments. As well as proving an absorbing project for the Artist it has been a positive and interesting experience for the staff involved. A catalogue will be produced for the exhibition which will contain a record so far of the work that has been produced and which forms part of the exhibition Faces of Health. The aim is to continue with this project beyond the exhibition in April 2012 and to develop this portfolio of paintings and drawings. It is hoped that after the exhibition Charlotte will maintain her connection with the practice and continue her portraiture practice in this context. Faces of Health Charlotte Harker