Centrepieces is delighted to present “From Trauma to Recovery,” featuring the powerful artwork of five emerging female artists: WJC, Pinkie, Sally, Fatma, and Nadia.
This unique exhibition showcases the personal journeys of these artists, who have found solace and strength in art while navigating mental health conditions. The concept for the exhibition originated directly from the artists, who have thoughtfully chosen pieces that span their artistic evolution – from early explorations as a means of managing well-being to confident expressions of their individual styles and ongoing recovery.
All exhibited artwork is available for sale, with the artists committed to making their creations accessible. They are open to discussing pricing to ensure their work can be appreciated by those who connect with it. Don’t be shy – if a piece moves you, please speak with them.
Connect with the artists in person on May 3rd & 4th and May 10th & 11th, between 11am and 3pm. They are eager to share their stories and discuss their artistic process.
For purchase inquiries outside these times, please contact the Centrepieces office at 01322 554 589.
We are grateful for the support of Canvas and Cream, and hope to return to this space in the future.
Your contribution of £2 via the café collection box will help Centrepieces continue to support artists and host future exhibitions.
Five of our artists are exhibiting their work at the Canvas and Cream Gallery and Cafe in Forest Hill from 26th April to 11th May. More information here
“Beauty belongs to life, but is immortalized in art” – Leonardo Da Vinci
I come from a family where everyone is a patron of any form of art. My name Rashikkha in itself, apart from several other meanings, means the lover of art. Growing up in a family of people being emotional about art, I should have learned earlier about aesthetic emotions. Nonetheless it took many years of university and personal experience to make sense of this extremely esoteric concept. I used to feel bemused every time my mom cried after listening to an artist sing a song well. She has quite a relationship with music and a good song would undoubtedly leave her in tears. Recently I was stupefied when my mom gave a very holistic interpretation of a stress-release-painting that I had done. She was able to nail the emotions that had weighed me down at the time of the painting and interwoven it into a miniature personality analysis. Although she is an engineer and not a psychologist, she was able to engage in this deep insight, merely by analysis of a work of art. Very similar to this, my grandfather, my longest ever best friend always has and still does get very emotional about cricket. The victory of his team means personal success to him. You can see this 90-year-old man in tears, clapping his hands in full fervor when his favorite batsman indulges in a hat trick.
The “Stress-release-painting” by Rashikkha Ra Iyer
This drove me to do some digging which is when I learned more about the concept of aesthetic emotions. Professor Rafael Bisquerra from the University of Barcelona calls aesthetic emotions an emotional response to beauty of any kind. If we were to give a wider context to this, this beauty can be that of art as in a painting or wonderful music, or that of a certain person, or words expressed in works such as poetry. It is common that the outcomes of certain specific artistic works can trigger specific kind of emotions. Nonetheless these emotions are safely ensconced in a phenomenon that goes beyond the work of the art itself. This is usually a result of the deep connection that the individual feels towards the work of art. These aesthetic emotions are indescribable and are nothing but an absolute state of bliss and joy. However, it is also important to understand that aesthetic emotions are not restricted to the positive continuum, they can also trigger negative emotions. For instance, looking at the painting, The Third of May 1808 by Francisco Goya people say triggered feelings such as extreme anger or fury, anxiety, or despondence relating to the onlooker’s history. I for instance know of some sculptures that stir up feelings of love, tenderness, and nostalgia. These sculptures were very dear to someone who once held a special place in my life. Thus, these sculptures elicit a similar feeling in me, even though I’m not a direct recipient of the beauty. My relatedness with this loved one increases my resonance with the sculpture. This makes me wonder if aesthetic emotions are only restricted to the beholder. Could they be shared? Could it be transferred because someone has explained the history of art to you? This is very synonymous to something that I had recently read in the journal published by the British Psychological Society. They mentioned that an onlooker’s resonance with a painting usually increases upon reading a short description about the artist who painted it. People who read up about a specific artist were thus able to appreciate a painting more than those who did not.
The enigmatic nature of aesthetic emotions makes them mysterious and difficult to understand in entirety. This nebulous abstraction further expands beyond just a work of art. I’ve personally seen some passionate scientists become tearful upon release of scientific developments. We human beings love to embrace monotony and pathological repetition. However, this drone of existence is zapped into a moment of bliss with deep yet well-established universal truth expressed through some work of creation. This perception of beauty can also sometimes be time-less. In this sense, have you ever found yourself marveling at something over and over again? I certainly have. I can’t stop marveling at how cute my dogs are even though my oldest one is 8. The same happens with all my wonderful houseplants. Every morning when I wake up, I fall in love with my plants all over again and can’t help but marvel at this rich creation of nature. I found this similarity in one of my good friends Charlie, who’s love for his dog is palpable. I’ve known him for close to a year now, but none of our conversations move without him talking about his love for this little walking ball of fur. The minute he calls his pup “chicken-nugget,” I find myself sharing his emotion and appreciation for his cute little pup. This kind of challenges the stereotype that an aesthetic experience is restricted to novelty. Contrarily, I feel aesthetic experiences are often rooted in familiarity. Familiarity plays a powerful role in shaping aesthetic tastes. Aesthetic tastes in turn play a big role in shaping one’s identity. Food for thought?
History in general has been written up by the victors but in today’s age how should we perceive the history of black people in our past?
This in part is what Centrepieces did in Black History Month as well as produce some excellent artwork.
Geoff Norris, Coordinator of Centrepieces, requested that we look at Angeline Morrison’s Sorrow Songs. Sorrow Songs is a term used about African Americans and their suffering during the period of slavery in the USA – Sorrow songs – Wikipedia. Ms Morrison clearly wanted to reflect the Sorrow Songs of the UK. Her songs were great material for thought provoking discussion, sharing personal experiences & artwork.
Our workshops covered four weeks running into the first week of November, reflecting on Ms Morrison’s songs.
1st Week – Black John. This song is about John Ystmullyn. He has had his narrative rewritten. He is now known as the first Black Horticulturist rather than just a good gardener. He ran away from his owners, the Wynn family, to get married to his Welsh love and was asked to return to the Wynn homestead because of his skills in cultivating new species of plants. John Ystmullyn has been commemorated in the form of a full headed, many petalled yellow tea rose. We produced work around John’s Yellow Rose using abstract images alluding to John’s life & work.
2nd Week – Mad Haired Moll O’ Bedlam & Mad Molly and the politics around hair. The vilification of Mad Molly is heart rending. We discussed how black hair has to be straightened or ‘tamed’ for women of colour to be accepted. We produced portraits of people of colour using charcoal, erasers & cotton wool buds to produce some well accomplished pieces of work. Portraits produced were of Madam CJ Walker (first self-made black female millionaire), Michelle Obama, Matthew Hensen (1st Black Man to reach the North Pole, before Cook) and a depiction of Mad Molly.
3rd Week – Cruel Mother Country. We talked about Queen Charlotte and the possibility of her being black. This was global PR to encourage or press gang people of colour to go to war for the Mother Country ie Great Britain. This week we made our skin colour in acrylic paint and then added a pouring medium to that colour. Once done we used the acrylic pouring method, using a series of prepared pouring acrylic paint for the desired effects. Every artist’s work came out beautifully unique.
4th Week – Listen With Your Eyes by SignKid. This is the week when we didn’t use Angeline Morrison’s material but in fact listened and watched SignKid and ‘Listen With Your Eyes’. Great footage. The people who knew British Sign Language (BSL) noticed that SignKid had a different vocabulary from what was generally learnt or experienced. It was reported that Black Deaf people are even more marginalised than their White counterparts because they are not just ostracised by one group in society but two. Intersectionality was discussed a little concerning barriers that are constantly there in relation to the Equalities Act and protective characteristics.
In our last session the artists continued with acrylic pours by adding silhouettes to their work to convey a story or a feeling they felt about ‘Rewriting the Narrative’. For my particular piece I decided to paint a zen-like goddess, containing the fire (anger/passion) inside and endurance of the fire outside, all the while exuding a calm quality, holding everything in balance and calm. Another piece that was beautifully revealed was of a ship on the ocean waves being tossed about at sea, with peaceful palm trees in the foreground depicting dreams, desires and reality all in one artwork. It was very sensitively done.
All in all a lot was learnt. For one, about art techniques that we can take forward in our art exploration. For the other, hopefully the facilitators and the artists learnt a lot from the songs that Ms Morrison and SignKid have created. Certainly for me it has encouraged me to explore more about Black History and encouraged me to do more reading even if it’s on Audible. The next two books that have been recommended for me to read are ‘Why I am no longer talking to White People about Race’ and ‘Why I am no longer talking to Black People about Race & George Floyd’.
In the end, these workshops have not only deepened our understanding of the complexities of Black history but have also inspired us to continue rewriting the narrative, both in our art and our lives.
A couple of months ago, one of our artists, Abdul Waheed Adeniran was invited to curate his first exhibition.
The title of the exhibition, Creativity of Freedom, was chosen by Abdul as a reference to the freedom that art offers people from the difficulties they experience in life.
All of the works in the show came from the collection of Outside In – a registered charity that provides a platform for artists who encounter significant barriers to the art world due to health, disability, isolation or social circumstance.
Abdul himself started painting at the age of nine and his prolific art-making helps him manage his ADHD and other mental health challenges.
Left to right: Abdul Waheed Adeniran, Ben Wilson (Chewing Gum Man), Julia Elmore.
Ben Wilson (aka Chewing Gum Man) surprised Abdul during the set up of the exhibition, showing support and bringing a huge boost as one of Abdul’s favorite artists.
We from Centrepieces are happy that many people had the opportunity to visit and see Abdul’s selection of works for the exhibition.
We are thrilled to announce that our talented artist, Lilani Dilrukshan, has been awarded the runner-up prize for The Charles Bracken Award 2024 for her acrylic painting titled “By the Lake.”
This prestigious award is part of the SANE Creative Awards Scheme and is presented each year to honor outstanding talent in illustrating the connection between creative accomplishments and mental health challenges.
Congratulations to Lilani on this remarkable achievement!
Centrepieces in collaboration with our guest tutor, Madison Miller, produced a 2 week soundscapes workshop. After the workshop, Madison put together the photos and sounds captured by our artists.
This beautiful video is the result of the collaborative experience.
You can read more about this art project in Madison’s blog.
This month two of our artists are participating in the LGC X Theo Paphitis Art Prize. The theme is JOY, which resonates a lot with Centrepieces. Hence we are using the opportunity to Celebrate Joy! This month we will be posting thoughts on joy in our blog and social media. Starting with WJC’s text on the process of choosing an artwork to enter the competition. You can read the full text in our Blog. EnJOY!
Despite the Swedish connections attached to her name she is a long standing self confessed Anglophile.
Now in her eighties and with more time on her hands she is able to pursue her own small practice as an artist and writer. She is very interested in social history, particularly the history of asylums she has been able to pursue her interests in art and writing. She is very interested in social history, particularly the history of Asylums – having worked in one for a number of years, during which time she amassed an extensive collection of photographs, artworks, including clay models and writings from those who used the creative facilities available in the art therapy department at Bexley Hospital in Kent between 1973-1996, including work from the artist Cynthia Pell.
She is currently trying to put these in some sort of order and possibly showing a selection to a wider public through books and exhibitions.
Mostly of her books were published by Centrepieces Press and with very small print runs they describe the Asylum, the patients, the art therapy department, life, creativity and the struggling to understand the deeper questions of life and the living of it.
A list of books can be found here on her website. To order or purchase one of them, please get in touch:
Geoff Norris Centrepieces Mental Health Art Project The Lodge Hall Place Bourne Road Bexley Kent DA5 1PQ
Our Craft Club is held twice each month on Saturdays at the Pop Up, Sidcup from 10.30am-1pm and is open to the public. The cost is £2 pp. Bring your own Craft activity to do, or use our Paper Craft Packs which are available to buy. This is a social session with peers and occasional guided activities. Share ideas and techniques while enjoying a cuppa! (included in price) Children are welcome (7+) if accompanying an adult.
