Yingmei Duan in cooperation with Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice

During my time at Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice I worked both as an artist and a volunteer.

I have been working as an artist for 20 years, and during that time I have collaborated with many different people on a variety of projects. At this point in time I am particularly interested in developing performance art that can relate to the area of charity.

Bluebell Wood Children’s Hospice is a fascinating place and a very worthwhile experience for everyone involved. They offer a place for children with life limiting conditions to come for a period of time and provide both the children and their families with relaxation and fun.

Observing, helping, chatting and researching were all important parts of this process, while I was at Bluebell Wood. As a result I have been working on collaborative paintings and a book of new fairy tales inspired by all the different people I met during the residency.

I interacted with people at the hospice on a daily basis but also arranged appointments with different families where I sat down and we chatted about their own life and the life of their child. Themes such as childhood, family holidays etc were explored. During this time I also helped some of them try to make simple drawings to illustrate their stories. I then took all the stories and drawings to make a painting that will become a legacy of the child's time at Bluebell Wood.

It was my intention that these sessions allowed people the chance to talk about their feelings and learn about the hopes and fears of their child and hopefully for us each to learn more about each other. If, as I experienced with some children, they were unable to take part in the physical aspects of the collaboration, I tried to get them to participate in other ways. It was important to me to try and make our time together stimulating to all the senses and fun.

As well as the parents and children I also spent time with the staff. The staff is an important part of the hospice and they have met and experienced the lives of many of the children who have stayed here. So wanted them to have the opportunity to talk about children whom they have built a strong bond with and their experiences.

I am keen that this project presents a visual legacy of the work that has taken place here and the lives that have been affected. I feel it is important that if these sessions are productive and useful therapeutically, then the staff may be able to include aspects of my work into the Bluebell Wood’s programme.