Jonathan Keep. YOTA Residency

		Year Of The Artist Residency Description of Residency This project involves me working as artist in residence in the Leiston and Aldeburgh surgeries on the Suffolk coast. With further support from the Arts Council Millennium Lottery Funds this is one of 1000 projects around the country celebrating The Year of the Artist. As a potter who explores the idea of the pot as a metaphor for the human body (Body as container) my aim is to create a series of works in response to contact with staff and patients in the surgeries. These works will then be placed in the surgeries for the duration of the Year of the Artist - June 2000 to May 2001. My personal interest is in the idea of 'visualisation'. To give physical form (in the form of a pot) to sensations we cannot otherwise see like feelings and emotions. I am hoping that this will in some way aid in a patients understanding of their own condition and ultimately in their general health care. I will be working on the pots at my studio, JK Pottery in Knodishall. Left - How are you feeling - series of pots for doctors rooms.Below - Pots made in collaboration with patients

The Black Dog This series of pots represents a patient's reflection of the process of recovery from a state of depression. The rough pot indicates the patient's state of feeling on first visiting the doctor. The middle pot depicts a gradual return to well being, showing an inner vulnerability but with a hardening of the outer shell. The third pot reflects a final rounded healthy state.



Breath These pots have been made in conversation with a patient attending the Aldeburgh surgery. With a desire to reduce drug use the patient has embarked on a program of daily breathing exercises that helps relieve asthma and respiratory difficulties. The glossy pot illustrates a visual representation of the feeling of relief from the symptoms of asthma brought about by shallow breathing through the nose. The rough, matt pot describes memories of the anxiety of an asthma attack. Gasping for air, breathing through the mouth and with the feeling of an inability to exhale. The program of breathing exercises has not totally enabled the patient to stop using drugs but has drastically reduced drug doses with a huge improvement in the patients well being.

Inside Out

This collection of pots has been made by the patient with support from the artist. They reflects the physical and emotional journey travelled by the patient whilst suffering from Ulcerative Colitis - ulceration of the large intestine. This long-standing disease was eventually resolved by surgery. The removal of the large intestine has resulted in the patient being relieved of the disease but needing to come to terms with a very altered body image.

Year Of The Artist Residency

The Black Dog

Breath

Inside Out