MUMMY, I’VE LOST MY TEDDY

In this colourful exhibition, artist Helen Fraser explores the human need for comfort during times of transition, uncertainty and change. Using the mediums of oil painting and textiles, she explores the relationship between dependence and independence, childhood and adulthood. Helen poses the idea that it is healthy and growth enhancing for adults to search for symbolic equivalents to their early objects of comfort to ease anxiety and cope with emotions that arise at these times.

This exhibition draws upon the psychoanalytic theory of Donald Winnicott who introduced concepts such as ‘transitional objects’ and ‘transitional experience’ as reference to an intermediate developmental phase between psychic and external reality. Inspired by an ongoing attachment to her own childhood Teddy, using humour and playfulness Helen invites thought and reflection about the role of soft toys, security blankets and the like in our complex lives.