Inspired by the people.
Artist Adrian Lockhart makes use of lines, shapes and colours to evoke people, places and things. His work mixes figurative and abstract. With his evocative approach and his diverse subject matter, materials and forms he was invited to create artworks for the exhibition A Conspicuous Object - The Maitland Hospital at the Maitland Regional Art Gallery.
Adrian Lockhart’s artworks installed in the exhibition, October 2021.
(Clare Hodgins)
“In reflecting on my experiences in various hospitals, it was the personnel devoted to patient wellbeing - not the food or the pain or the buildings - that left the enduring memory. And now, with the health system as stressed as it is in the current situation, I feel even more inspired by the people we are relying on to get us through this mess.
My paintings honour all who work and worked in Maitland Hospital.
I depict people without obvious figurative elements, and aim to suggest enough reality to leave it up to viewers to interpret the paintings as they wish.
The objects at the base of each painting add to the experience. Sourced from the hospital and from elsewhere, they reflect the historical theme of the hospital passing from a nineteenth century institution into a place of excellence in the twenty first century.
The works each include an element of cloth – bedclothes, uniforms, towels, bandages. These are evocative of care, warmth, aid and comfort and suggest a softening in what can be perceived as, at times, a hard environment.”
Click on the images for a larger view and a slide show. Hover over the images in the slide show to see full details of the works.
Creating the works
Adrian offers the following insights, thoughts and images about his intuitive and progressive way of working on the paintings.
The paintings were processes of evolution, one image suggesting another, resulting in over-painting but still retaining a freshness. There were some false starts and, sometimes, I thought the false starts could be the better work. But I like the idea of having the courage to paint over or destroy and move on.
I photographed the changes as I went and, looking back at the photos of the different stages, it’s interesting to see my thinking and where I ended up. Indeed, sometimes I think the photographs of the works in progress could reflect the inner workings of my mind - I’m not sure that’s a good thing!!
Adrian Lockhart created a fourth artwork entitled Hospital Staff which, in January 2022, was in one of the vitrines embedded in the new timeline at the new Maitland Hospital. Visit Hospital staff for more details.
First posted: 16 October 2021
Updated: 11 April 2022