ONE YEAR ON - OUR HOSPITAL HEROES
When artist Nathan Wyburn unveiled his stunning tribute to the NHS a year ago this week, more than 200 images of health workers were used in the artwork. Now, one year on, this is the story of how the artwork changed the artist’s life and united a nation. Here also are the affecting stories of NHS staff featured in the artwork and how they’ve coped on the frontline in the past 12 months in the fight against coronavirus...
IF THERE is one thing that Nathan Wyburn can take away from the past year, it is that art has the power to change people’s lives.
It was March 2020 when he unveiled his latest artwork, a piece that meant more to him than any he had ever worked on. Its message was simple but hugely effective. When it was revealed its impact was immediate and heartfelt.
The artist famed for his celebrity portraits had utilised hundreds of photos of real NHS workers in a stunning montage. Nathan, 31, made the “Thank You” piece as a tribute to health workers fighting the Covid crisis.
Renowned for his creative artworks made from unusual household items including Marmite, chocolate and glitter, his famous subjects have included Prince Charles, Mariah Carey, Dame Shirley Bassey and the Jacksons.
On this occasion, his artwork was assembled by using more than 200 photographs of NHS workers, using the pictures to create a collage of a nurse wearing a protective mask with the words “thank you” underneath. It was a message close to his heart.
“Most of my close friends work in the NHS and are out on the frontline every day – I’m always in awe,” he says. “It’s emotional to me as this collage contains many of my best friends.”
The artist from Ebbw Vale, who now lives in Cardiff, has previously made portraits of Simon Cowell and Boris Johnson out of toast and Marmite and rapper Eminem out of spaghetti, but
The messages of love I received because of this thank-you have been overwhelming almost every day for a whole year
Nathan Wyburn
this time his artwork had to strike a more weighty tone.
“I’m used to using fun and lighthearted media in my work, such as Marmite on toast, spaghetti and even painting with my feet, but this had to be more serious,” he says. “The art took about four hours to complete and my plan was to display it somewhere prominent for staff to see the thank you, not just from me, but the nation.”
In his wildest dreams he couldn’t have envisaged the reaction it would receive – eventually being displayed at every NHS site in Wales, an artistic totem of hope for the Welsh NHS.
“I created this image, an image that would go on to define not just a year in my life, as an artist, but many others,” he says. “Reflecting the times of the Covid-19 pandemic, it made front pages of newspapers around the world, was featured on TV shows in America, Australia, Japan and the opening credits of ITV’s This Morning for three months.
“The messages of love I received because of this thank-you have been overwhelming almost every day for a whole year.”
The image quickly took on a life of its own and raised thousands for the NHS, being turned into T-shirts and other garments which were made to raise money that was put directly back into the NHS.
What is interesting to hear him say is that initially he had doubts about what he was doing.
“So initially at the start, yes, I was a little bit cautious as to whether I should do something so suddenly,” he recalls. “But then I sort of quickly remembered who I am. That’s what I do. You know, I comment on things as they happen.
“It’s my duty as an artist to do so. So I put a Facebook call out for pics of those working in the NHS. I thought, mostly just friends would get in touch, to be honest, but it ended up having such a great reaction. More than 200 people, I think, sent in selfies and photos of their family and friends who work for the NHS in their scrubs, along with some stories which were very powerful.
“It was just adopted and shared everywhere. I gave it to the Cardiff & Vale Health Charity and they commissioned to have it printed large scale outside every health site in Wales, including in the temporary Dragon’s Heart Hospital, which thankfully didn’t need to be used as much as we thought it would.
“And the image was turned into garments and T-shirts and hoodies, and people were wearing them all around the country. The response I had was just amazing.”
The image is also the centerpiece of Nathan’s latest book – 2020 Diary Of Artist Nathan Wyburn – based on the past 12 months, with all the proceeds from the sale going to Cardiff & Vale Health Charity.
The cover image features two 20p pieces – a neat piece of pop iconography from the artist – the Queen looking back over the last year and looking forward to the future.
“There’s obviously two 20ps, for 2020. Using money is a reference to the financial impact of the pandemic. The Queen is looking backwards over the year as well as looking forwards with hope. So there’s a little bit of reflection going on there as well.
“In the book, I’ve basically documented every piece of work that I created since March last year to February this year,” he adds. “It’s the full 12 months circle with all images dated, documenting and reflecting the times.
“A lot of them are health-related, a lot of them Covid-related as well as my usual pop-culture fun in between. One hundred per cent of profits from the book will go into the Cardiff & Vale Health Charity, of which I’m a patron. It’s a brilliant collection that I’ve released in partnership with the charity, sort of a quirky little diary.
“You look back and you see pieces of work and you think, ‘Oh, that’s when Boris Johnson said that or Donald Trump did this’ or, you know, that kind of thing. So it reflects world news, as well as celebrities passing like my Barbara Windsor portrait. It’s all in there.”
The 2020 book comes hot on the heels of Nathan’s previous tome Pop Tart – The Art Of Nathan Wyburn, which celebrated 10 years of his art.
“That took me a long time to pull together, but because of the sheer volume of work I’ve created in the last 12 months, I just thought I’ve got to do something to document this because I’ve never worked so hard,” he says.
“I’ve never had so much time to work hard as well, because life itself just stopped with the pandemic. I was pretty much quarantined in a studio for 12 months, I couldn’t go anywhere else.”
Before the pandemic hit, the artist had grand plans for 2020, all of which had to be shelved.
“When it hit last year, I lost a lot of work, I was going to be travelling, I was meant to be going to Japan and Australia for different things,” he says. “For me it was potentially going to be lifechanging.”
Throwing himself into his work was Nathan’s way of staying focused as everything he had built up was set to disappear. He’s spoken openly in the past of his battles with depression and, as the world slowly drifted out of shape, he saw how easily it was for him to hit a low point once more.
“I had to do something to keep myself from dipping as well, because I’ve spoken openly about suffering myself. I’ve had low moments and at the start of all this I really thought I was going to lose it. I felt like I had built up such a momentum in the past years and it was just going to go.
“So I had to do something. I threw myself into my studio and I spent months and months just working – and hopefully from that I’ve given other people a bit of joy as well”
As it happened, the past 12 months have been his busiest yet, but he’s quick to point out how it seems wrong in a way to talk about him having the most successful year ever, when so many people have been suffering.
“I think that’s fair to say. And, to be honest, for a while I’ve felt quite guilty saying that I’m doing OK. My following has almost doubled online in the past year. I think this is because people have had more time to watch art, they’ve had more time to practice art and, by keeping creative, it’s helped them as it’s helped me.
“I think art can help with many things like mental health. So many people have been keeping creative to help themselves. There has been a real outpouring of fantastic creativity as people have sought solace in the arts and the creative arts to help their mental health and see them through and be productive and feel like they’re achieving something.
“I’m sure there’ll be plenty of songs and poems written about this time for years to come. As a visual artist, I really felt like it was my job to reflect the times. So I no longer feel guilty saying that I’ve had a good year.”
■ Nathan’s book 2020 Diary Of Artist Nathan Wyburn is available to buy directly from the charity at www. healthcharity.wales or via his website at www.nathanwyburn.com