PRN - Take as needed

My newly commissioned piece is now on display at Bethlem Gallery until November 2018. I named this collection of objects and collages PRN, from the Latin 'pro re nata' meaning 'as circumstances require'. This phrase is often found on prescriptions to describe medications that can be taken as needed. 

This piece examines the relationship I have with the medication I take daily to maintain my mental health. It keeps me well but also gives me side effects, including a tremor and night terrors. When trying to come off a medication recently I experienced withdrawals. Medication has shown me the role brain chemistry plays in my mood. 

I wanted to explore the physicality of the medication – bottles, boxes, prescriptions. I experimented with new materials - resin, plaster and concrete. I gathered together my medical notes, medicine leaflets and my own notes from meetings with my psychiatrists and layered them into a series of collages. With plaster casts of an ear and a mouth I represent the life-changing conversations which occur in NHS consultation rooms.