BEING PATIENT (2022) – 121.92 CM X 96.52 CM – OIL PAINTING ON CANVAS
Following on from the painting, Bloodlines (2022) this is the second painting in The Dialysis Series. The patient is looking out from their bed in a dialysis ward, feet perched on the end of the bed as they are too tall for the standard-size bed.
The reference is a photo taken whilst in a dialysis session at Churchill Hospital, Oxford. A typical session lasts four hours. The title reflects being a patient of the hospital and ‘being patient’ whilst undergoing treatment.
I decided to paint this as an expression of my time having dialysis, and that it’s not all that bad. The four hours spent there can be time for reflection, time to catch up on emails or to watch a film you’ve felt you’ve not had the time to watch otherwise. I like to call it forced reflection time, as I can’t move my left arm due to the needles in my fistula. I can’t go anywhere or walk around for the same reason, I am connected to the machine cleaning my blood. So I am forced to face boredom at times and often reflect and unwind, or even just get some extra sleep.
