'The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead' looks at a personal, colourful, and sensual side of St. Vincent's Hospital that I discovered during a residency I undertook there for 10 months during 2006.

Level ten of the Aikenhead building is where the nuns who ran the hospital used to reside. Now the entire level is used for storage of piles upon piles of old files as well as housing studios for artists. Once you crawl out onto the balcony of level ten there are magnificent 360-degree views of the city. The bathrooms are a scungy turquoise, pastel pink, and baby blue colour.

The Bolte Wing is the rehabilitation centre at the hospital. It is where patients rehabilitate after amputations, surgery, strokes, and where patients learn to live with severe arthritis or multiple sclerosis. With a particularly pungent 'hospital smell' the Bolte Wing is one of the more relaxed wards in the hospital. During business hours it is bustling and busy with teams of specialists, patients and their visitors coming and going. After hours when it quietens down, there is a gentler sense of care going on, and patients are more reflective, chatting to friendly staff or wanting some quiet time.

I am fortunate enough to have not spent much time in a hospital. Even being in a ward that was considered to be 'relaxed' was confronting and it proved to be a challenging environment to photograph.

Close

The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 1, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 2, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 3, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 4, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 5, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 6, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 7, 2007
The Bolte Wing & Aikenhead 8, 2007
Installation View, Kings ARI, September 2007