Working with the histories of the patients was the most moving part of the research for me. Ethel Wilson aged 6 particularly struck me.
This painting is the embodiment of her spirit and life force. Within my imagination she became a protective spirit for everyone in Meston Asylum. This is how I described her “she was the thread, sewing her mischief about the asylum. Within her lay all the magic and wisdom the inhabitants required. She was a protecting spirit who made talisman from the stones, bones and wood she found about the surroundings. She would carve each of them with care and artistry and inscribe her incantations upon them. She would then sneak her charms to those who were repairing or making the restraining shirts for them to secrete away within.”
Before painting this piece, I took some time to sit once more with her story, with the energy she continues to send out to us from the snippets left behind, not least her photograph, where she has the most compelling expression on her face. And her case notes were particularly touching. I drew the tarot too before creating, to settle into a deeper place of connection within. They came out so close to how I imagined her to be, the protective feminine came through strongly but also tinged with the adversity she had to live through.