Work News

Melanie Stidolph

Still, Held – Hospital Rooms commission

Photograph of a room with pink and blue walls, pink lounger and photographs of paper flowers falling in the air, with hands below.

Proud of this commission made with the amazing Hospital Rooms team, patients and staff. There’s also a beautiful publication sharing all the work 📖💙, including an essay by Martin Holman and photographs by Oliver Udy.

Installation shots and video of the project by Rachael Jones shared at Newlyn & The Exchange gallery 9 August – 28 September 2024.

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Still, held, 2024 is a photographic installation created by Melanie Stidolph for the female lounge on Carbis Ward in Redruth. Hand-made paper flowers, created by service users, staff and members of the public with lived exper­ience of mental health services during workshops on the ward and at IntoBodmin, were thrown into the air and photographed using specialist equip­ment. The resulting images, showing the flowers coming together in mid-air, represent the gathering of people which surrounded their creation and which defines the room in which they are now installed.⁠

‘I wanted to make a flower garden for service users that would adorn the walls of Carbis Ward and represent the time we spent together. The final photographs sit on a painted backdrop which softly fades from pink to blue, referencing Cornish skies. They show flowers suspended in mid-air and hands below – releasing, or ready to hold.’ – Melanie Stidolph⁠

For more info and images visit – Hospital Rooms