Peter Hodgson

I was asked to be Bradford Teaching Hospitals Artist in Residence which I accepted. This offer was sent to me after my 4^th art donation to them and was offered as a way of expressing their appreciation. Below is a quote from the hospital about Peter’s work too.

We are extremely delighted at Bradford Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust that Peter Hodgson has agreed to be the “artist in residence” at the Bradford Royal Infirmary (BRI).  Peter has already donated some fantastic pieces of artwork to the Trust which not only brightens the walls of our corridors but also lifts the spirits of our staff, patients and visitors to the BRI.  His artwork brings cheer, gives the opportunity for reflection and contemplation.  Peter has such skill, vision and has totally embraced the Trust’s theme of kindness to produce such heart-warming, striking, thought provoking, beautiful pieces.  We look forward to displaying more work from Peter over the coming months.

Helen Sutcliffe
Head of Corporate Affairs

How did you get into art?

The easy answer to that is I have always been into art. When I was a child I made things, I was drawing a lot and came to understand how much it helped me. I was bullied a lot as a child right up until I left school and art took me away. The effect is similar now, when it works. I decided to get some formal education in this as I had taught myself from the beginning. I found myself unable to work my usual toxic office jobs, I was unable to cope as I had been for so many years and I was jumping from one prescription medication to the next as this is a process. I was on the waiting list for over two years for mental health care and nothing was moving forward. I feared what would happen to me if I didn’t do something because I wasn’t getting better. I decided to enrol in an art course at Bradford College, I had no idea if I would complete the course but I did and I got some great results. The following year I enrolled on the next art course and once again I made it through and got distinctions. I was maybe 38 at the time.  I felt like the next level was to try for a degree so I enrolled on the BA (Hons) Art & Design course, so far so good I am half way through. 

Where does your inspiration come from?

My sources of inspiration are multivarious, lately I take a lot from whatever is happening in the world and close to home. The NHS artwork:

Can I got outside – I made a choice not to feature NHS staff for this one because at the time of this assignment brief it was one of the things they currently had a lot of. The depiction of a small child who is wearing a mask but you can see the smile because of the way the eye narrows as they are catching the falling leaves from the tree.  The tree also has buds growing which I felt was a pretty strong image but subtle. I wanted a feeling of hope too, whilst things wont be the same again maybe we can go outside without our masks on and without fear. This was completed in 2020.

Thumbs up – The source of this inspiration simply came from a photo I saw of a hospital staff member wearing full PPE smiling under the mask whilst giving a thumbs up. I really liked this image because it was reassuring so I took that and turned it into a mosaic. One of the specifications of the brief was to include hearts and rainbows to the artwork which I included in this one.

Bradford – This was the third art piece but it was also the first one I made for the hospital that wasn’t part of an assignment. At this point we had Bradford 2025 happening which we hadn’t won yet so as with the “Can I go outside” piece I made a hopeful composition. The art features some of the sights including pigeons and people just walking about town. This was made as a cyanotype which was built up from a rubylith stencil I had painstakingly made for a screen print that took a really long time but it turned out so well.

Kindness – I asked Helen Sutcliffe who I am in contact with at the hospital if they would like something more specific.  Helen provided me with a word “kindness”. I had a pretty clear image that felt real to me of a care worker comforting a patient on a bench. I worked pretty quick with this one as it was a pretty straight forward composition and I liked the idea of including sparrows.

What’s your favourite piece you have produced?

This is a little sore for me because my favourite piece is a sculpture of a goblin I made for my final assignment. I spent months working on this and I made it some clothes too.  It isn’t a lost cause I can probably reattach the head but right now my focus is making artwork for the Bradford Royal Infirmary. My favourites from the BRI art is “Can I go outside” and “Kindness” the latter will also be at St Lukes Hospital too. I am also very proud of my LGBTQ comic that I wrote and illustrated and had printed a few years ago which is full of fantasy creatures which I always like to draw, anything weird and scary.

How does it feel seeing your work displayed in different place?

I had participated in an art trail where I got to speak about my artwork with Susan Hinchcliffe and a few other people who genuinely wanted to know about my artwork. The feeling was wonderful because I was never sure if anyone would actually like what I make, I certainly never got any encouragement when I was at school all those years ago. Myself and the students in my class were invited to the BRI to meet with the staff and Mel Pickup last year and I can’t speak for the other students but I wasn’t prepared to hear how the artworks helps visitors, patients and staff. Initially my negative thinking was that this is a hospital not a gallery so who is going to care…I am so very happy that I was wrong.  It was clear to me that I should make more for them which is great because I get to keep making stuff that has more purpose, when it does work it helps me deal with my mental health problems. 

What have you got planned for future work?

I have a few ideas for a fifth artwork for the BRI so I’m working on that and I have my second comic to make too. I have put some emails out there hoping that someone might see potential in me. I really want to host a solo exhibit also. BCB radio have expressed interest in interviewing me again so that will be nice to do. Earlier this year I participated in an open call for an artist’s project but I can’t say anything more on that until it is completed and the artist is ready to show it to the world which I’m excited about. I am looking forward to continuing my degree in September too but for now I will try to deal with my mental illness, taking each moment at a time and just try my best to keep making stuff. 

My other stuff

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