I am visual artist based in London. I have more than 17 years of experience in Learning and Participation, working with all ages and abilities from toddlers to adults. I teach art, drama, set design and movement. I work in a range of therapeutic and educational settings such as schools, hospitals and hospices, prisons, arts venues and universities.
TEACHING, LEARNING AND PARTICIPATION
Stratford Circus
Associate Artist In Residence: Visual Art for Early Years
Messy Play for Toddlers, Sue Bramley Children's Centre in Barking and Dagenham 2017-2019
Windmill Cluster, Brixton (Primary and Secondary Schools)
Paul Hamlyn Foundation Teacher Development Fund - Confident Creators: Lead Artist for Visual Art CPD 2018 - 2020
INSET / CPD Lead Artist: Teaching Art to Children for 40 Primary School teachers, Jan 2018
INSET / CPD Lead Artist: Art for Wellbeing and Happiness, for Primary School teachers, March 2018
London Bubble Theatre
Lead Artist: Speech Bubbles Practitioner, Drama intervention for KS1 children with speech and communication difficulties, 2017-18
St Mungo's Homelessness Charity
Weekly art classes for adult service users at Swiss Cottage branch, 2017 and 2018
Imperial College, London
Lecture and workshops on Compulsive Skin Picking, Art and Recovery, Medical Humanities course 2016
Lecture and workshops on #CompulsiveCharcoal / Texture Hunter-Gathering for Medical Humanities Students 2017
BREATHE Arts in Health, Guys and St Thomas’ Hospital
Lunchtime Breathe concert, Live #CompulsiveCharcoal drawings for staff and patients at Guys Hospital, 2018
Lunchtime Breathe concert, Live #CompulsiveCharcoal drawings for staff and patients at St Thomas's, 2017
Lunchtime Breathe concert, Live #CompulsiveCharcoal drawings for staff and patients, 2017
#CompulsiveCharcoal roving live drawings 1-2-1 in public spaces around the hospital. 2016
V22 Louise House, Forest Hill
Lead Artist: My popular Children's Art Classes for 4-12 year olds, 2016 on-going
Emergency Exit Arts
Lead Artist: Messy Art and Science experiments for young people, ‘Fun Palaces’ 2016
Royal Central School of Speech and Drama
Acting Diploma Performance Projects 2018: Lead Designer, Set and Costume for 'Blank' / 'Astronauts'
Acting Diploma Performance Projects 2017: Lead Designer, Set and Costume for 'Zero for the Young Dudes' / 'Loveplay'
Lead Designer and Assistant Director: Under 5s Applied Theatre in Education module touring production
devised by 1st year students in schools Cornwall incl. Minack Theatre, May - June 2015, 2016, 2017
Lead Designer: BA2 Playtext, ‘Offending the Audience’ Oct – Nov 2016
Specialist Lead Facilitator for Performing Place: AHRC project, St Mungo’s Homelessness Charity 2016
Experience in Context: Messy Play for Toddlers, training for 2nd year students, 2016
Arts Depot, Finchley
Lead Artist: ‘Fun Palaces’ Art and Science for children 2015 & 2016
Lead Artist: Older People’s Art group, 2016
Lead Artist: Weekly Children's Art Classes for 5 - 7 year & 8 - 12 year olds 2015 - 2017
Lead Artist: Weekly Messy Play, Early Years from 18 months – 4 year olds 2015 - 2017
Lead Artist: Noah’s Ark Children’s Hospice – Art for children with complex needs & their families 2015
Half Moon Theatre
Lead Artist: Speech Bubbles, Drama for children with speech & language problems 2015 on-going
Lead Artist: Set Design Commission for 40th Anniversary Performances at Half Moon June 2016
Lead Artist: Art Sessions for disabled teenagers from Richard House Children’s Hospice 2015 - 16
Lead Artist for CPD Movement & Messy Play session for Primary School practitioners 2016, 2017, 2018
Lead Artist: Set Design for Half Moon Transitions 5 day Summer School, Bishop Challenor School 2015
Lead Artist: Richard House Children’s Hospice Creative Family Days with parents, carers and siblings 2015
Lead Artist Richard House Hospice 1-2-1 Residential Sensory sessions with children 2015 on-going
Lead Artist for Early Years Dance and Drama 2015
Lead Artist for Early Years and Youth Summer Schools in Drama / Art 2014-5
Access Worker: Solar, inclusive drama group for disabled teenagers 2015
Access Worker: 1-2-1 support for a young person with autism 2015
Assistant Director: ‘Drama in the Mix’ Radio Project, 7 East London schools, at Rich Mix 2015
Support Artist: Creative workshop with mothers from Richard House Children’s Hospice 2015
Bethlem Royal Hospital & Bethlem Gallery affiliated artist
Lead Artist: Workshop for staff and patients Royal Society of Public Health – Mindfulness, Flow, Colour 2016, 2017
Lead Artist: Workshops for staff and patients, part of the inaugural launch Bethlem Gallery: 2015
Co- deliverer for ‘Telling My Story’ drama sessions for adult patients. Recovery College (SLAM) 2015
Lead Artist: Photographic project for adult patients Art Commission: Anxiety Disorder Residential Unit 2014
Lead Artist: ‘Sanctuary in Art’ workshops for teens and adults Sept 2014
Hoxton Hall
Lead Artist: Summer School 3D art construction inspired by the work of Claes Oldenburg for 7-12 year olds, 2017
Lead Artist: Summer School 3D art construction on Carnival theme for 8 – 19 year olds 2016
Lead Artist: Half Term 3D Design Dance / Drama / Art project for 8 – 19 year olds 2016
Lead Artist: Easter Project for 8 - 19 year olds for Roald Dahl’s The Twits and James and the Giant Peach 2016
Lead Artist: 3D Design for Youth Classes (8 – 16 years) April 2016
Extant – Theatre Company for Blind and Visually Impaired actors
Access worker / Photographer: ‘Spirit of Resistance’ Project 2016
HMP Send: Art Workshops for Watts Gallery Big Issue programme
Lead Artist: HMP Send from October to December 2015. HMP Send is a female training prison and the sessions led to an exhibition opportunity for the participants with the Big Issues programme.
Blue Elephant Theatre
Lead Artist on a theatre project with children exploring Mental Health & Well-Being across 3 Southwark Schools 2015
Other lectures and Presentations 2008 - 2015
Maudsley International, Kings College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Southbank University, Merchant Taylors School, Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, Chester University, Birkbeck College.
FULL TIME EMPLOYMENT
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance 2005 – 2014 Learning & Participation Programme Manager (Children, Adults, Summer School, Short Courses)
The Place, London UK 2004 – 2005 Evening Courses Manager, Participation Programme (Courses for Adults)
Birkbeck College, University of London UK 2000 – 2004 Executive Officer (Performance Studies)
UK and INTERNATIONAL ARTIST RESIDENCIES
UK: Stratford Circus: Associate Artist In Residence: Visual Art for Early Years 2017-2019
SINGAPORE: M1 Singapore Fringe Festival Jan 2017
UK: Bishop Challenor School: Art and Drama Department, April - June 2016
UK: Northgate School, Artist in Residence – Edgware Community Hospital for teenagers w. mental illness, 2015
UK: DIY 11: 2014 - Manuel Vason ‘The Photo-Performer’ with ArtsAdmin/ Live Art Development Agency
UK: Arts Council England funded residencies Dungeness, UK / Chisenhale Dance Space, London Nov 2013
JAPAN: Fellowship Artist Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Yamaguchi Aug 2011
LOS ANGELES: International Artist in Residence ‘Genesis Project’ Los Angeles, USA 2008
EDUCATION
Trinity Laban Conservatoire of Music and Dance, London UK 2007 MA Dist. European Dance Theatre Practice
Birkbeck College, University of London UK Foundation in Dance 2001 Merit, Diploma in Dance 2003 Distinction
Royal Holloway, University of London UK 1998 BA Hons 2:1 Drama and Theatre Studies
CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Communication Trust Training, 2018
Extant Theatre Company - Visual Impairment Training 2016
London Bubble Theatre Company: Speech Bubbles Approach for Children’s Communication and Wellbeing 2015 on-going
Studio Upstairs: ‘Skin: Therapeutic Work with Art Materials’ and ‘the Identity of the Arts Therapist’ 2014
South London and Maudsley ‘How Do You Think I Feel?’ Arts Therapies and Therapeutic Engagement 2013
Positive about Autism and Asperger’s /Equality and Diversity Training 2012
AWARDS
Winner Phoenix Diversity Award, UCLAN 2016,
Winner SAFTA Southwark Arts Forum Emerging Artist 2015
Winner British Women Artists National Competition 2010,
Winner London Paper Self Portrait Award, Affordable Art Fair 2008,
Honorable Mention New Artists Fair Summer Exhibition 2012,
Judges Favourite British Women Artists 2012
BETHLEM GALLERY - COMMISSIONS / EXHIBITIONS (affiliated artist with the Bethlem Gallery since 2013)
'It's How We Bounce' 20th Anniversary Celebratory Exhibition 2 Sept - 28 Oct 2017
'The Work in the Work of Art' Artist, speaker and workshop leader for inaugural exhibition launch Feb - Apr 2015
‘Making Visible’ Southbank Centre Dec – Feb 2015
'Compassion Project' Anxiety Disorder Residential Unit Lead Artist for 8 week photographic project for adult patients, curating a site-specific exhibition and memento book, Sept 2014
'Sanctuary in Art' Dragon Cafe Site-specific performance of 'Curdled in Colour' Sept 2014
'Curdled' Anxiety Festival 2014: Solo exhibition and site specific performance commissioned for ORTUS Building, funded by the Maudsley Charity 22 May - 4 July 2014
'My Singular Fascination' 6 week solo exhibition and public talk, Funded by Maudsley Charity 2013
Other UK and INTERNATIONAL EXHIBITIONS
SOLO
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine Los Angeles USA Oct – Dec 2015,
Akiyoshidai International Art Village, Japan Sept 2011,
Blackheath Halls, South London May – June 2010,
Camden Peoples Theatre, London Sept - Oct 2008,
APT Gallery, Creekside, London May - June 2008
GROUP
'Towards Each Other', Chapel Walk Gallery, Sheffield UK, July 2018
'A Caroming', Centre for Recent Drawing, London, May 2018
'The Vulnerable Body' CBK Zuidoost Gallery, Amsterdam Jan - March 2018
'Beyond Anxiety' Menier Gallery for London Brain Project, Feb 2018
'Rethink Mental Illness', The Forum, Norwich 2018
'Scratch The Surface Festival', The Herbert, Coventry, Nov 2017
'Finding Lines' Derby Museum and Art Gallery, May - July 2017
'Letting in the Light' Illustrated light box exhibition, Daily Life Ltd curated by Bobby Baker 2016,
'Havelock Walks East' at Half Moon Young People's Theatre 2016
'Dreams: Hope Hurt and Happiness' Institute of Mental Health for City Arts Nottingham 2015
'Pain' LRG Gallery at the David Geffen School of Medicine, Los Angeles 2014
Invited International Artist: 'Skin' Gallery Show Skin and Cancer Foundation, Melbourne, Australia
'Recovery', City Arts Nottingham at the Institute of Mental Health 2014
Impact Art Fair for marginalised artists, Creative Futures, Invited artist London July 2013,
Fragmentary for Photomonth London, 2013
Other exhibitions: Dragon Café, Muxima Gallery, Rich Mix, Parallax Art Fair (La Galleria Royal Arcade Pall Mall) Havelock Walk, Siobhan Davies Studios, Stoke Newington Gallery, The Albany
MENTAL HEALTH ADVOCACY IN MEDIA
BBC OUCH / BBC Stories: feature on my artwork and advocacy 2018
SELF Magazine, October 2017
BBC Radio Coventry and Warwickshire, Interview with Vic Minnett Oct 2017
BBC Coventry and Warwickshire: coverage of Scratch The Surface Mental Health Festival: Drawing on the Buses 2017
BBC News, 20 Anniversary Exhibition for Bethlem Gallery 2017
Huffington Post Feature on Art and Compulsive Skin Picking 2017
Mashable Feature on Art and Compulsive Skin Picking 2017
The Metro Feature on Art and Compulsive Skin Picking 2017
Buro 247, Singapore Artist interview 2017
Channel News Asia Video feature and online interview 2017
INewspaper #TimeToTalk day, Interview on Compulsive Skin Picking, Feb 2017
The Mighty Interview on Artwork for BFRB week 2016
Counsellors Café Interview on Artwork 2016
The Londonist, Video Feature on #CompulsiveCharcoal and mental health, Nov 2016
BBC Radio London Interview with Jo Good on #CompulsiveCharcoal free art for commuters may 2016
New York / UK Health Radio – 1 hour feature on my work for Advocacy Heals You, May 2016 (Global audience)
DIVA Magazine – Spring 2016
VICE Magazine – Interview for feature on Compulsive Skin Picking, Health and Art 2015
Diversity Magazine – Interview on mental health and art 2015
BBC Breakfast Live interview for the launch of the new Bethlem Gallery and Museum 2015
Al Jazeera TV Interview for the launch of the new Bethlem Gallery and Museum 2015
Stigma Fighters Blog entry on Recovery and Compulsive Skin Picking, July 2014
BBC World Service Outlook: Interview on Compulsive Skin Picking recovery and artwork 2014
BBC Arabic TV Afaq: Interview and profile of Curdled solo exhibition and performance for Anxiety Festival 2014
BBC Radio 4 Women’s Hour: Interview for Jane Garvey with Dr Simon Darnley
PUBLIC SPEAKER
TLC Global Conference for Skin Picking and Hair Pulling Disorders: Workshop Leader / Pouring Mountains Performance, San Francisco USA 2018
OCD Action, National Conference UK: Workshop Leader on Skin Picking and Hair Pulling Disorders March 2018
Charlton House, Graffiti workshop and public talk, 2018
Scratch The Surface, Mental Health Festival, Coventry 2017
TEDx talk : 'Reimagining Compulsive Skin Picking: Art for Recovery' at Royal Central School of Speech and Drama 2017
I Am Normal, Mental Health Festival For Young People by Harts Theatre, Arts Depot 2017
Speaker at the book launch of Sarah Chaney's Psyche On the Skin, including live drawing performance, Royal College of Nursing, 2017
Lasalle College of Arts, Singapore Jan 2017 Talk and workshop for MA Art Therapy students
Esplanade Library Public talk on Skin Picking for M1 Singapore Fringe Festival
Khoo Teck Puat Hospital, Singapore Public Talk and Art workshop for M1 Singapore Fringe Festival 2017
National University of Singapore, Centre for Mental Health Talk and drawing demonstration, Jan 2017
Body Dysmorphia Disorder 2nd International Conference, London, Keynote and workshop leader Dec 2016
TEDX Youth, Public talk at Royal Masonic School for Girls, Nov 2016
UCLAN Diversity Conference, Preston Lancashire 2016 Keynote speaker
Wellcome Collection: Panellist for Re: Creating Psychiatry for Dragon Café 2016
Bethlem Gallery ‘Site – Body – Space’, Mental Health & Art Symposium 2016
Creative Futures, Brighton: Meet the artist event, Sept 2016
TLC Foundation – Keynote Speaker for Skin Picking and Hair Pulling Disorders Conference, Dallas USA 2016
Southbank Centre - Changing Minds Festival for Mental Health and Art 6/7 February 2016
OCDLA Adult Skin Pickers Group Talk to recovery group about Skin Picking and Art Oct 2015
University of California: Santa Barbara Talk to Dance Majors on Compulsive Skin Picking, Art, Oct 2015
USC Keck School of Medicine, Los Angeles Talk to medical students Oct 2015
UCLA David Geffen School of Medicine, LA Talk to medical students Oct 2015
Critical Voices ’15 Invited speaker on ‘Hope’, Medicine, health and art conference 2015
Depression Alliance Speaker on lived experience, art and recovery 2015
Citizen M Invited speaker for ‘Celebrating Creativity’ event with playwright Jessica Swale, London 2015
Dragon Café / Mental Fight Club, Invited speaker on Art and Wellbeing London July 2013
Southwark Arts Forum ArTea Networking: Presentation of work made for Anxiety Festival 2014
Pacitti Company Think Tank Panel, invited artist / speaker 2013
North Devon Arts Invited Artist Speaker UK Apr 2011 and 2012
PUBLICATIONS
Psyche on The Skin: A History of Self Harm, Dr Sarah Chaney, Cover artwork / featured interview 2017
Reflections on Body Dysmorphic Disorder, Contributor and artwork, Schnackenberg (2016)
Artwork and interview, Narratives of Art Practice and Mental Wellbeing (Routledge) Olivia Sagan 2014
Exposure See Me Group Inc, Fine Art Book USA Publication 2011,
Art2102/Genesis Los Angeles USA 2011,
Lead artwork: Siobhan Davies Studios spring brochure 2009
Lead artwork: Camden Peoples Theatre brochure 2008