Fatma Ummanel

‘Stuck’, Watercolour Pencils, Pen and Ink on Paper, 33cm x 45cm

‘Getting Through’, Watercolour Paint, Pen and Pastel on Paper, 24cm x 32cm

Artist Statement: 

The artworks embody my experiences studying through three years of turbulence. The pandemic and industrial action strikes left me wondering whether I would reach the end. Amongst feelings of anxiety, fear and instability were those of anger at my powerlessness as a trainee, which paralleled and informed my clinical work in an NHS Adult Learning Disability setting. In order to reach qualification, I had become a complicit consumer – my tuition feeding a bureaucratised system of education. The acknowledgment of my resistance towards these systems and precarious position highlighted the need to strengthen my internal resilience. Adapting my relationship towards education and within institutional groups became an integral part of my self-development. Thank you to my experiential group for consenting in the display of ‘Getting Through’ and for its inclusion. The boat survived the storm.