Our composition aims to shed light on the general neglect within prison healthcare, emphasising the inequality between mental and physical care. The piece is constructed around a brain trapped within a locked cage demonstrating the disconnect between it and the inmate’s hand, grasping between the bars.

We are looking to draw attention to shared, unspoken, desperation for better mental health provision in an already struggling general healthcare service. We combined the mediums of wire, clay, watercolour, thread, card, and digital media to demonstrate the diversity of life experiences inmates carry. We created contrast between the abstract centrepiece with the anatomical realism, expressed in the remainder of the body representations to further demonstrate our concern for the potential of unwarranted bodily detachment whilst inmates cope within the prison system. It is important to note the additional challenges this brings later, as individuals are expected to return to their ‘normal lives’.

Much of the inspiration for this piece came directly from insight the creators gained reading “The Prison Doctor” by author and GP Dr Amanda Brown. This book depicts many complex interactions with vulnerable individuals within the UK prison system, which are first hand testimonies of the inequality our creation seeks to portray.

Rachel Murray, Sophie Kvam, Fil Kennedy, Lydia Blinkhorn, and Malki Wijendra