Artist’s solo exhibition features work inspired by residency at UCLH

The artist Caroline Walker, whose work was featured in The Guardian at the weekend, created some of the paintings being shown in her current solo exhibition, during an artist residency at UCLH in 2021.

The exhibition, entitled Mothering, is on at the Hepworth Wakefield until 27 October and then at Pallant House Gallery in Chichester from 22 November to 10 May 2026. The exhibition is accompanied by an illustrated monograph of the same title, to be published by Lund Humphries in September.

Caroline spent some time in maternity in 2021, shadowing staff and taking reference photos which she turned into a series of paintings and drawings.

The large scale paintings were exhibited at the Fitzrovia Chapel in 2022 while ink drawings and oil sketches were exhibited at University College Hospital, within The Street Gallery.

Three of the oil sketches are now in UCLH's permanent art collection, donated by the artist, and in turn we have loaned one of them out for her solo exhibition.

Caroline Walker's work focuses on women and most recently that has included their working lives.

Caroline's daughter was born at UCLH and, while there, she started to get interested in what was going on around her and felt it would make a great subject for painting.

The pieces are not about the moments of high drama, but more about the small, quiet moments that make up everything in between.

Caroline said : “One of my favourite works is a scene in an operating theatre during a C-section. It is one of the most complicated paintings that I have ever done, with nine figures depicted within it. I like that, in the busy clinical environment, there is this tender moment where the mother gazes over at her newborn baby.

“In the ink drawings, I really enjoyed trying to capture scenes from the postnatal ward of the interactions between midwives, new mothers and babies.”

UCLH art curator Guy Noble said: "We’re thrilled to see Caroline’s powerful work, inspired by her time at UCLH, featured in Mothering at The Hepworth. Her paintings offer a rare and intimate glimpse into the everyday realities of maternity care."

Caroline’s residency at UCLH was facilitated by the UCLH Arts and Heritage team.