This was a major commission to create a series of artworks for two areas of the brand new Jubilee Wing of Leeds General Infirmary - the main entrance hall and the cardiology and neurology area on E floor. Having visited the original LGI building, designed by George Gilbert Scott, I was impressed by the cast capitals to the columns that lined the main entrance hall. Each of the capitals was a design celebrating the plant forms of herbs that would have been used in treating ailments in the Victorian period, long before the modern age of synthetic medicines and drugs.

I wanted to bring that connection with nature and the use of plants and herbs for healing into the clinical setting of the modern hospital. The main entrance hall is a welcoming large, open and well lit area. I designed two large wall panels celebrating the native plants traditionally used as medicines. Leeds general Infirmary is well known as a leading heart hospital, and so Heart & Mind, the largest of all the pieces I made, references both neurology and cardiology. The other piece, Healing Herbs, takes a broader view of the healing qualities of our native plants.