Artist and painter Sarah Beck Mather has created a new body of work for the Emergency Department (ED) at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital. The ED is often a high-stress environment for both visitors and staff, and the newly commissioned artwork will provide a soothing atmosphere for the area, with new designs now on display in the main waiting area, corridors and toilets.
Sarah is a London-based artist, and her work looks at the personal and intuitive, using the painted image to focus on feeling and perception. For this commission, Sarah designed beautiful hand-painted circles using watercolours and pastels, creating a calming tone for the space. “I felt it was important that my art brought a sense of tranquility to both visitors and staff,” Sarah reflected, “I chose to use soothing colours, reminiscent of sunsets and oceans, to offer a distraction and burst of colour for staff and patients.”
Bespoke printers, Just Displays, transformed Sarah’s work into large-scale Perspex and vinyl displays, installing them across the ED. The artwork was produced in collaboration with the ED team, ensuring staff felt the work was appropriate for the space, and reflective of the high level of care within the department. Deputy Matron Hilary Donnellan was involved in the project and said, “Our team valued the opportunity to be a part of this installation and to have a positive ray of hope through this challenging time at the hospital – the new artwork brings some much-needed brightness to the department.”
This commission is the newest in a long line of hospital art projects as part of the CW+ arts in health programme, which aims to create a healing environment for patients visiting our hospitals.
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