Willow Tree
by Health In Mind: Peer Arts Collective
This piece has been a collaborative project between the group members of the Health In Mind Peer Creative Space Group. We meet weekly, both online and in person and engage in art and crafts activities together as we understand and appreciate how beneficial creativity can be for our mental health and wellbeing, alongside connecting with other people, particularly after the Pandemic, in a fun, welcoming and safe peer creative space.
Our piece for this year’s exhibition stems from a TED Talk we have watched in the group, by Ingrid Fetell Lee, entitled ‘Where Joy Hides & How To Find It’. The talk highlights the universal shapes, colours and patterns that spark joy in everyone- confetti, bright colours, fireworks and round or symmetrical patterns among others- and how so much of the modern world is designed in a way which goes against these ideas, and negatively impacts us all- concrete buildings, drab hospital wards and offices, for example.
Our piece is based around a willow tree, abundant with berries, fruits and colourful figures and animals nestled in and around its branches and trunk. The top of the tree is composed of two interlocking dreamcatchers, made with natural materials, with dreamcatchers being one of the activities the group has previously made together. We have used a combination of polymer and painted airdrying clays to create the figures and items within the tree, meeting together to share ideas, tips and knowledge with each other on how best to achieve this. It has not always been easy and has tested our patience and frustration levels but we feel the gathering together of the group and the support it provides, both creatively and personally, to all group members has enabled and encouraged us all to persevere and to get through these tricky times!
We hope to inspire others to always be on the lookout for where joy may be hiding, especially during our darkest and most difficult times…
“Deep within us we all have this impulse to seek out joy in our surroundings. And we have it for a reason. Joy is not just some superfluous extra. It’s directly connected to our fundamental instinct for survival. On the most basic level, the drive toward joy is the drive toward life.” – Ingrid Fetell Lee (2018)
Thank You