Look Left, Right & Up Madge Gill
We normally think that the things we are missing out on are so far out of our reach. But what about the things that are close, accessible, and free that we may miss out on?
I walk the same route on auto-pilot pretty much nearly every day. It’s the same route I walk to the office and the pool, where I swim almost daily. My earphones are always plugged in with a podcast on.
But I had been missing something every single day—art and in an unexpected place that had been there for quite some time.
The underpass, which I speed walkthrough dodging cyclists, dogs, and runners, has an art exhibition that I had not noticed before or when it had been installed. The only reason why I did eventually notice was that someone else had stopped ahead of me to appreciate it.
How had I not noticed this? How much of my life have I just been going through the motions, speed walking through somewhere just to get to somewhere else focusing on the destination rather than the actual journey. With hindsight, it makes sense why I am rarely content when I get to a particular place. I have been too focused on just getting when all the good stuff happens in between.
I wondered if it had just gone up overnight, but intuitively I knew I had been blindly walking past it, focussing on all the annoying things I would experience at work that day. After checking, I found that it had been up for a few months. But still, I had only just noticed.
I carried on my way (slightly slower) and decided on my way back home I would stop and view it all properly. Why interrupt someone else taking the time to experience this outdoor exhibition now, especially when I had only just paid it some attention. So that is what I did on my way home.
The artist Madge Gill was a self-taught artist from east London born in the late 1800s. Her life story was one of adversity and hardships, which she channelled into her creativity. Her art helped her to cope and heal from her pain, and her story resonated with me.
Her work featured under the underpass is a large-scale reproduction of a series of postcards she created. The flowers featured in each feel like they have so much meaning. It felt like the flowers in each piece were surrounded by the pain that she experienced. That’s what I love about experiencing someone's art. You get to feel the person long after they have gone, and it makes you feel normal, too, that you are not the only person who has felt a particular way.
“If I were a man, I would have gone abroad and studied botany” - Madge Gill
You just have to exhale sometimes, deeply, for all the unfilled experiences and lives that were not fully lived. I did this when I read her quote that she didn't get to experience and explore the things she wanted to do because of her gender. It's quite a matter-of-fact statement—a normalisation of a situation that shouldn’t have been normal.
With so many people across the world in even more oppressive systems, their dreams and creativity are so suppressed that the world may never get to see or express the gifts and talents that lay inside them. Even though I don’t live in the time of Madge Gill, and if I did, it would be even more brutally oppressive for me as a black woman, I still feel like I am only slowly undoing the oppressive chains which look invisible but still feel real.
The themes of spirituality, nature, trauma, and healing throughout her story and work resonated with me so much. I was even more intrigued by her story because she talked about a spiritual guide possessing her to create her art. I was glad that I had seen someone stopping to appreciate this pop-up, as I may not have been aware enough to stop and notice it myself. Although I hadn’t missed this exhibition for the length of time I initially thought I had, it has made me question what else I have been mindlessly missing. People, Places, More Art!!
As much as I love my daily walks listening to podcasts, I need to start being more aware of my surroundings, even during the same journey I do each day. It's so easy to become complacent. It’s time for me to start unplugging a bit more and looking around. You never know what or who you may be missing and passing by.
Later that day, I Googled more of her work and found that there is more exhibited closer to where I live, just a very short walk away. Four minutes to be exact, and over the other side of the railway tracks. Another opportunity for me to go and explore more of my surrounding area rather than thinking everything great is further away.
Finding new art literally just minutes away from where I live is definitely a reminder to myself to change my routine and practice being more mindful. You never know what you might be missing. You never know what is just waiting to be seen.
