Category: Art
The end of year show Sanatorium by Beatrice Haines brings together a selection of her most recent art work, completed during her residency here at Marlborough College.
Her final work explores issues intrinsically linked to the College and its Medical Centre. On entering the gallery, there is a ghostly and sterile atmosphere, which recognizes both the medical and mortal aspects of the environment Beatrice has insightfully explored, particularly through her use of space and lack of colour contained within the exhibition.
Beatrice's strong interest in the human trace, especially in the form of graffiti, is evidently present. Plaster casts were taken from original bed tables, etched with markings, from within the school's Sanatorium. Sixty-two white casts are turned on their side and placed purposely in rows, dominating the floor surface. Reminiscent of pupils' desks set out in a classroom, military parades and gravestones, the installation is highly thought-provoking.
Former patients had casually carved and scratched into the surfaces of the original tables, many inscribed statements; dates and images; the oldest being recorded in 1885. Graphite powder that Beatrice has worked into the casts, clearly highlights their slightest incision. All the recuperating pupils never knew that their marks would be re-presented and witnessed again in such a contemporary manner and setting. Rubbings also taken from the bed tables are regularly interspaced, horizontally across the walls, subtly echoing the floor installation and an orderly hospital ward. They reveal the names and afflictions of former patients. The semi-opaque sheets provide a touching reminder of each past, bedridden pupils presence, reaching from the Victorian age, through the First and Second World Wars, to the end of the twentieth century.
The large scale charcoal drawing 'Science Without Religion is Lame, Religion Without Science is Blind' re-visits Beatrice's confusion on science and religion as a child. Although to some, the subject matter of Steven Hawkins and a nun may seem controversial, for Beatrice it was a way of trying to conquer her confusion, a matter of curiosity. Beatrice commented that 'the way a viewer reads this drawing, presents a reflection of themselves and how they perceive the image.'
For me, the exhibition showcases exceptional skill, powerful subject matter and has provided endless pondering on the conflict of science and religion. You can visit Beatrice's website by clicking here
Emily Bedford (NC L6)