Think back to the last time someone asked ‘how are you’? Did you tell them the truth, or did you just say ‘I’m okay’? In this exhibition, we say, it’s good to say how you really feel, to ask for help, to look after yourself and the other people around you.

We all have different experiences with our mental health, with some people asking for help from professionals while others may find different ways of looking after their own wellbeing, often called self-care.

In this exhibition, the works have been chosen by the Hounslow Exhibitions Group. They wanted to ask questions about self-care and what it means for each of us individually and collectively. What are the social conditions that affect us, and our access to help, and our ability to care for ourselves?

Many of the works in this exhibition have their own words and stories within them – do they inspire you, do they challenge you? How does it make you feel?

There are touches of personal grief and sadness, finding a way out of the dark, but there is also irony and humour here, making fun of the language of technology and modern systems. Some works challenge the sanitised language that might be used around mental health.

We hope you find this exhibition refreshing. We wanted to avoid the cliché, and find work that was entertaining, inspiring and challenging instead.

So, how are you (really)?

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The artists featured in this exhibition are:

Jac Batey

Aleesha Nandhra

Mark Titchner

Ashley Holmes, Tanaka Mishi and Becky Warnock

Their work has been selected by the Hounslow Exhibitions Group for this exhibition.

The zine ‘Take Good Care of Yourself’ has been created by local people at a series of workshops. Please take a zine at the exhibition!

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About Creative People & Places Hounslow

This project has been curated by members of the Hounslow Exhibitions Group, formed of members of the local community in collaboration with the Creative People & Places Hounslow Visual Arts Programme, which presents new and original exhibitions in libraries, cafes and other public spaces across the borough. CPP Hounslow is a consortium led by Watermans. Visit www.hounslowvisualarts.org.uk for more information

Visit the exhibition at Bedfont Library during usual opening hours. 

This exhibition is part of the Creative People & Places Hounslow Visual Arts Programme of visual arts exhibitions in libraries and cafes across the borough. 

 To get involved, please contact daisy@watermans.org.uk or visit www.hounslowvisualarts.org.uk

Image credit: Please Believe These Days Will Pass, Mark Titchner