Innovation and reflection

Abstract

Jenny Pockley graduated from the Royal Academy Schools, London, UK, in the summer of 1997 with an MA in art. Since then she has continued to paint, working from her studio just off Old Street in London, but she also works as a mural painter. A She has also been involved in teaching art to all age ranges. In her paintings she uses landscapes as a theme, sometimes basing them on the real, sometimes on the imaginary, but always as a metaphor for particular moods and atmospheres. Her painting At Cley was, in November. 1995. the first to accompany a poem in The Lancet, since when many of her works have appeared with poems in the journal. When Thomas Wakley founded The Lancet in 1823, he announced “A lancet can be an arched window to let in the light or it can be a sharp surgical instrument to cut out the dross and I intend to use it in both senses”. Since then, this philosophy has been the doctrine for all those who have worked and who are working for the journal. It was also the starting point for my painting, Innovation and Reflection, commissioned for the front cover of the 175th anniversary issue. Wakley's statement underscored the need for investigation and discovery through medical research while including discussion of existing methods. The reference to the lancet was a metaphor for using well-supported facts (excluding “the dross”), the phrase about the window and the light indicating inspirational discovery. It was important to me, therefore, to represent these two elements of research and practice in my painting. Originally, I tried to base the work around an idea of protecting, nurturing, and caring, so I worked on a series of images of hands in various poses. Somehow, the images I painted did not have the dynamism and strength that I felt were important. I sensed that any element showing a hand should be strong and should also reach upwards as though striving for better things. Colour was also an important factor. Quiet, subtle purples and mauves were too contemplative and reflective, while greens suggested illness. So, eventually I used punchy orange-red standing against a vibrant yellow for the light. On a more subtle level, light blues and turquoise were useful for providing a fresh, clean, clinical quality to the piece. I included a window in the composition, but I felt that the light was the more important feature; an emphasis on the arched shape of the window would be an unnecessary distraction. Therefore, the sense of light is powerful in the picture but I have merely hinted at the arch. Using the shape of a blade to represent the lancet instrument was another difficulty, since it very easily took on a suggestion of violence. Ultimately, I felt that if I painted it as though it were being held aloft, the lancet would take on the role of life saving while also striving for higher achievements. I hope that the finished piece, painted with vibrancy of colour and fluidity of marks, reflects the strident, dynamic nature of Wakley's philosophy and in so doing encompasses the spirit of The Lancet.