Our first event goes live! 

Art Exhibition at the Old Fire Station

Preview Night Thurs 7^th September 6-8pm – all welcome! 

Exhibition dates 9^th September till 5^th October, Tues - Sat 10am-4pm

FREE

Helen Pakeman is showing her exhibition, “How Do You Feel Today?” as part of Kicking the Bucket Festival 2023. Here she talks about the creation of her new artwork, a series of 9 individual pieces.

Death is an inevitable conclusion to life. It is surprising therefore how effectively society avoids talking or thinking about it. It usually occurs away from the domestic sphere, dealt with by professionals. All of medicine, beauty, lifestyle is about postponing death. So, when one is given a terminal diagnosis, the shock is real and the emotions are tumultuous.

‘How do you feel today?’ is the opening line of most medical professionals and it is the hardest question to answer honestly. For this work I interviewed people with cancer, Soul Midwives, natural burial grounds, end of life care and the medical trends accompanying this field. I decided to focus on the emotions that were most universally experienced and I wanted to distil those emotions creating simple objects that spoke at a visceral level. I also tried to use natural materials as far as possible, remembering that being assimilated back into the earth is the ultimate conclusion to existence. I was very mindful that there is no order to the rollercoaster of emotions that sometimes overwhelms, and that the journey is most definitely not linear.

Image: “Grief” by Helen Pakeman, 2023