Portraits of patients, loved ones, and staff, 2013-2023
Our Portrait Artist in Residence project ran from August 2013 to December 2023, during which time artist Simon Tolhurst visited the Daycare unit of the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre on Thursday afternoons to offer patients and their loved ones the opportunity to pose for a pencil portrait.
Established by Haematology Cancer Care shortly after the opening of the UCH Macmillan Cancer Centre in 2012, the Portrait Artist in Residence project provided patients with the opportunity to have their portraits made whilst having chemotherapy or haematology treatments at the hospital. A project to draw patients in a cancer environment can be beneficial because:
- Posing for a drawing can be a relaxing, meditative activity. The activity is not strenuous to undertake, and with each drawing taking around an hour to complete, there was time to chat and get to know one another.
- A portrait can help with a person’s self-image during treatment whilst they might be experiencing effects like hair or weight loss.
- It can take people’s mind off their treatment, illness and treatment related nausea. It provides a distraction and a positive activity during long treatment times.
- Drawings often include the patient’s loved ones that accompanied them on treatment visits, and they were provided with multiple signed prints of their portrait, enabling them to give a copy to friends or family.
- Portraits focus on the person in an environment where the clinical treatment can leave a patient feeling de-humanised. The drawing process and resulting portrait are a pleasant memory during what is a difficult time in a person’s life.
What did patient’s say?
“Time disappeared.”
“The thrill of being drawn transformed the chemo-suite into an exciting gallery.”
“A lovely portrait, all my family love it.”
“It felt really good to be talking about other topics than cancer or chemo.”
“I felt much better for the whole evening afterwards.”
“I have never had my portrait done before. It seemed like a ‘treat’. A good thing because of a bad thing.”
“I enjoyed it and was so happy with the portrait of me and my Mum.”
“It’s something to treasure as it’s at a really bad time in my life and it’s something to leave my family. It is framed on the wall in the front room.”
“Simon was a reliably friendly face on other visits to the Cancer Centre. Warm and communicative.”
“I love the brilliant portrait and I am having it framed!”
The project was featured by the BBC in 2017 in a short film for the BBC News website and in 2023 with Victoria Derbyshire for BBC ‘The One Show’. The project was also featured in newspapers and online news websites including the BBC and ITV News Online.
