Commissioned Artist: Catherine Yass
Curated by Lacuna
In celebration of and in homage to NHS workers, Catherine Yass’s large-scale collaborative photographic installation takes over a 24-metre-long wall on Tanner Lane - neighbouring St Mary’s Hospital. The image is constructed from over 200 photographs of ten NHS workers swimming underwater to make up a seamless whole, with the swimmers brought together in the print suspended on the wall overhead. The piece is made from sustainable vinyl and will be on view for 10 years.
Catherine Yass, NHS Swimmers, 2200cm length x 600cm height, 2021-24.
Install view photograph by Oliver Dixon © Paddington Square
“Ten NHS workers are swimming underwater, overhead down Tanner Lane. They flow down this narrow road between Saint Mary’s Hospital and Renzo Piano Studio’s new office building, reflecting the stream of people moving through to catch trains and get to work. Photographed on large format sheet film, over 200 images are overlaid onto blue negatives to create a sense of movement and a deep blue space that leaves us floating down the street between water and sky. The Swimmers were selected to correspond to the diversity, gender and age of the NHS workers in Saint Mary’s. Photographed between Covid restrictions, freedom of movement was a fabulous thing, and the break from the pressure of working in the hospital felt liberating. Up on the high wall the NHS workers appear to be flying as well as swimming, hovering over our heads like angels caring for the people below.”
Catherine Yass, Artist
