The charity is proud to fund the Arts in Health team, who bring creative activities, performances and artistic enhancements across Sheffield Teaching Hospitals Trust for the benefit of patients and staff.
Their latest exhibition, Shifting Shapes, features artwork created by patients, alongside the work of artist Laura Obon. Laura, an artist who studied in Sheffield and now resides in London, shares a deep connection between art and therapy in her work. Through abstract analogue and digital collages, she explores how colour and geometric forms evoke emotions, helping to process life’s challenges.
Offering a glimpse into the therapeutic benefits of art and creativity, the gallery showcases the way patients have been able to support their mental and physical wellbeing through art as a tool for healing.
Through the installation of the exhibition within the Northern General Hospital, patients are encouraged to feel a real sense of achievement through the display of their work, as well as creating a visually stimulating environment for staff, patients and families.
As part of a year-long project, the Arts in Health team have distributed specially designed ‘art packs’ to patients for the collage-making, inspired by Laura’s work and containing coloured paper shapes. The creativity fostered by patients has been celebrated through the exhibition.
Victoria Gisborne-Land, Arts Coordinator at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said:
"This exhibition is a wonderful example of how creative projects can transform clinical spaces, making them more welcoming and inspiring for patients, staff, and visitors. Seeing patient artwork displayed alongside a professional artist’s work highlights the value of creative expression in enhancing wellbeing and the hospital environment."
Lizzie, a patient at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals, said:
"As a patient in hospital a lot of your freedoms are compromised or removed all together. Especially your freedom to make choices. For a short while the art project flipped that on its head and enabled a situation where the only choices that mattered were mine and I had complete control. The art pack I was given included some instructions, some inspiration and all the materials I needed. I was able to act on impulse and create something. The activity reminded me that I was more than a patient in hospital. It brought me back to myself."
Shifting Shapes was opened on Vickers Link corridor at the Northern General Hospital by Kirsten Major, Chief Executive at Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust on February 20th. It will be displayed there for six months before moving through two other gallery spaces over the next 18 months—Seven Hills Gallery at the Northern General and then onto Five Rivers at the Royal Hallamshire Hospital.
The five artworks by Laura Obon in the exhibition are for sale through the Arts in Health team. 20% of proceeds from sales of Laura’s artwork will be donated to Sheffield Hospitals Charity.
Published: Thursday 20th of February 2025