Kate Lindsay

I began my post as artist in residence at the Mater Hospital in February 2007 and it was within Psychiatry that I began my workshops. The first thing that struck me was that when people are very ill for any length of time they often forget what they liked to do. I wanted to design an art project which would enable patients to really experiment so I encouraged them to paint in a number of different mediums and experiment with collage. We concluded our experiments with a large group painting of a “Tree of life” (acrylics on card). Based on these experiments I decided to design a project with two phases. We began the first phase in May with the local Creative Writer Moyra Donaldson who ran a month of “writing” workshops and the second phase with Textile artist Anushiya Sundaralingham; the patients transferred some of their wonderful “writing” into a textile wall-hanging; the central image being a tree. Please see images.

My Role

I see my role in the hospital as connecting the patients to the world around us and I work on a basis of mutual trust, mutual benefit and mutual respect. I believe people flourish when their ideas are valued; they are listened to and encouraged. I hope to create the right environment for new moments or triggers to occur where patients discover a belief in themselves and their abilities with clarity and confidence.

Biography

Since graduating from the University of East Anglia in “Art History” in 1990 and “Contemporary Art Practise and Critical Theory” from Goldsmiths College in 2000. Katie Lindsay has lived in London and Brazil. On returning to Northern Ireland 3 years ago she been involved with a number of community art projects in Belfast sponsored by Belfast City Council ; for example “A Sense of Place”; the hoardings which line the west-link.The project was undertaken with migrant Filipino nurses living in the Broadway Towers at the Royal Victoria Hospital. She worked with a group of 12 nurses, who, through discussion and painting created images (acrylics on paper) which combined Northern Irish interiors with Filipino elements (tropical flowers/colours and Filipino landscapes).

She has also recently completed a mural with “The Village Regeneration Trust” which is displayed off the Donegal Road. The remit for the mural was to work with “Positive Identity.”  It took the form of seven framed paintings and combines images made by Children working with the theme of Belfast Past/Present and Future. The framing of the individual images gives the mural the feel of an “outdoor” gallery. I am in the process of planning an extension of this “outdoor” gallery with rural community groups in Downpatrick, killyleagh and Ardglass.