Green Space, Deep Breath
Tarik Rahman
The creative medium I chose for the piece was a mixed-media collage within an outline of lungs. I intentionally used real leaves and plants that I had picked from the botanical gardens to achieve this, as I wanted to convey the feelings and emotions bought up by nature and the calming effect it can have. Personally, I learned not to view the hospital environment as such a clinical space as I had previously, and to appreciate that often patients’ priorities differ from that of the healthcare team, however, are still essential to giving the best possible patient care. I learned from my patient the difficulty of being in a hospital especially when suffering from mental health problems and the overall negative impact this can have if it is not accommodated whenever possible.
Whilst making the art piece I gained a first-hand experience of the calming and overall positive impact that spending time in Nature, and took away a deeper understanding of why my patient valued nature so highly. In addition to this, I gained self-awareness of how lucky I was to have easily accessible green space and should utilise it more, especially when I feel my mental health declining.
At first, after this scenario, I felt sad and angry as many patients in hospitals have no access to green space and no views of Nature. I felt this was an injustice, as I saw the importance of Nature. However, upon reflecting on this, I am grateful for the encounter as it opened my eyes to the patient’s view of the hospital. Furthermore, as my career progresses, I believe, due to this experience, I will have more empathy for my patients and respect for requests that I may not understand, and this will aid me to becoming a successful clinician.
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This piece called out to me as the usage of leaves and flowers was very distinctive and very effective at highlighting the interplay between our health and nature. The artist’s intention to show how being around nature and green spaces can improve mental health and wellbeing is very well carried out as the presence of the plants made me feel peaceful just from seeing the picture, mimicking the mood improvement of the patient in the hospital when they had a view of a green space. I feel that I felt this way as it makes me view the lungs less clinically but more as whole with the body and highlights the idea that we are also part of nature too, which makes me feel comfortable and happy.
I think that the artwork also shows off the effect on physical health too as many treatments are derived from plants. More importantly, the decision to portray the lungs with plants seems to be somewhat indicative of the idea that plants are the lungs of the Earth, making us seem more at one with nature and showing our reliance on nature and plants to provide us with clean air, helping us (and our lungs) to stay physically healthy and happy.
This piece resonated with me as I feel we are moving further away from nature in the name of modernization and innovation. I think a lot can be gained from living the way nature intended. During a large part of human evolution our ancestors were embedded in nature. They exercised in the search for food and ate only whole, real foods.
It is only recently that humans have adopted a more sedentary lifestyle, relying on heavily manufactured foods from convenient, nearby stores and not exercising. This is leading to chronic health issues which are putting our healthcare systems under immense pressure.
I think we as a society need to remember that we were once a closer part of natures ecosystem and understand that it is in our biology to thrive when we are eating healthier, exercising more, and spending a little more time every day in nature.