Art imitates life on ITU
A West London artist has painted two oil paintings of a pre-registration pharmacist who has been redeployed to work on Intensive Treatment Unit (ITU) at Newham Hospital.
Vicky Saumarez is a classically trained artist and teaches academic drawing at the The Royal Academy and City Academy. Usually Vicky paints still life but since lockdown she has been painting at home. Her subject of choice is Elliot Masih-Fallows, a pre-registration pharmacist at Newham Hospital.
Elliot was originally working at Whipps Cross but has been redeployed to Newham Hospital to work in ITU. In his new role Elliot is responsible for screening drug charts and ensuring medication is prescribed correctly to patients.
The artwork is part of the Portraits for NHS Heroes initiative, launched by artist Thomas Croft, which aims to capture the spirit of front-line workers across the UK, through portraits, in an effort to recognise all that NHS staff are doing to care for patients during the Covid-19 pandemic. The #PortraitsForNHSHeroes tag is a means to facilitate portraits as gifts, directly from artists to NHS key workers, free of charge.
Elliot and Vicky were matched through the initiative, which started on Instagram. Elliot provided Vicky with some still photographs, which she used to paint two portraits. Each painting took around three days to complete. We asked Vicky, why she wanted to paint Elliot:
“I have huge respect for what Elliot does on ITU and I am pleased I can help by just giving a little bit back. The first painting of him is in full PPE. I wanted to catch the eerie unreal feeling I got from the photograph. The way he was standing with his arms out, looking straight at the camera was like a warrior about to face his enemy and I wanted to reflect that tension.
“The second, head and shoulders portrait, is more traditional but with his head slightly lifted and looking straight at the camera showing his strength, pride and confidence.”
We spoke to Elliot about how he felt on receiving his portraits. He said:
“I was ecstatic when I saw the portraits that Vicky had painted of me. She is wonderfully talented and I am very thankful. I hope there will be plenty more portraits that other NHS workers receive, they really make a difference during these challenging times. It truly shows how the power of social media and community spirit can be a force for good.”
NHS staff who are interested in getting involved with the Portraits for NHS Heroes initiative should log in to Instagram and search for #PortraitsForNHSHeroes. Artists will post a green canvas if they are available and a red canvas if they are unavailable. Simply direct message an available artist to enquire.