Friday 31st March – Friday 26 May 2023

This is the first major solo exhibition of artworks by Nottingham artist Catherine Levey who has worked in the NHS for many years, with a special interest in mental health.

It explores how her perceptions of living with mental health conditions were challenged when she began to analyse the artwork of artist Bryan Charnley and his vivid paintings describing living with schizophrenia.

“My mind is just broken glass”

Bryan Charnley’s self-portraits document his lived experience of schizophrenia and Catherine created her own emotional and artistic response to the portrayal of Charnley’s deteriorating mental health. The resulting artworks offer semi-abstract scenarios reflecting her view as an outsider looking in on his story.

Layers of thin paint were used to create dream like imagery, giving Catherine time to develop her personal connection to Charnley’s story and reflect on the impact of schizophrenia on his art, and life. This led Catherine to research whether she could use art to educate people about mental health conditions. It also made her consider the impact of the pandemic on her own wellbeing and investigate biographies of others who have experienced mental health problems.  

If her art could express how her own preconceptions about living with mental health conditions had changed, could Catherine present a new narrative about mental health for other people too?

“We can only ever know our own minds, so I make no attempt to translate the inner stories of others. Instead, I take my personal emotional response to their narrative and form a connection through fluid and fragmented layers.

“I invite the viewer to interpret the images in their own way, and perhaps start conversations about their own mental health. The pandemic has sparked a massive increase in mental health issues. My hope is to challenge the silence which can stifle recovery.”

Catherine Levey is a Nottingham based artist. Her practice focuses on her emotional response to the stories of others, using a layered and fluid approach in the portrait and figure. She is nearing the end of her BA(Hons) in Painting from the Open College of the Arts. She has exhibited around Nottingham and has an upcoming group show at the Surface Gallery, Nottingham in May 2023. She was shortlisted for the Zealous Amplify art prize in 2022 with the theme of mental health and wellbeing.

More information can be found at www.catherinelevey.com

Bryan Charnley’s words and images used by permission of his brother, James Charnley.