Kerry Scally

Precious Building

[and]

Having a break

Exhibited in: The Alternative Archive – Only Hospital For Miles Miles exhibition at the Lake Grace Regional Artspace

Precious Building

Media/Materials: acrylic paint on stretched canvas

Size: 305mm x 406 mm

Artist Statement:

For this painting, I visited the building and museum to familiarise myself and record the building as it is now.  My love of old buildings set me on a path of depicting the building in paint. I can imagine how busy it would have been with staff and patients coming and going; the happiness when someone was saved or cured and the sadness on occasions.

Photograph: Rebecca Clark

Having a break

Media/Materials: plaster bandage, gauze, medical workbook, wire

Size: 660mm x 520mm

Artist Statement:

I am not sure if the nursing staff had much time to take a break, but I like to think that they did.  The figure with head in hands depicts the tiredness and sometimes the grief the nurses would have felt. The floating figure represent the feeling of joy that would have been felt when lives were saved or babies were successfully delivered.  The tree is a symbol of continuing life and growth. In this work I wanted to create a sculptural work using some of the materials that are used in a hospital environment.

Photograph: Rebecca Clark