Diving Deeper Into Ravleena Wasan’s ‘Feeling Purple’
‘Feeling Purple’ by student Ravleena Wasan was featured in our 2023 Christmas exhibition. She reflects on the meaning of her piece, which is rooted in her experience of training in healthcare.
‘Winnicott has termed this space ‘the third space’, within which the contours of self and the other might be perceived, where mutual assertion and recognition might lead to the emergence of meaning and fresh perspectives’.
The ‘third space’, is a space which allows independent people to share the meaning of their existence, whilst acknowledging their own individuality. The colours red and blue, so different from each other, like a doctor and their patient; can join to form purple. A depiction of the beauty can be created from this shared understanding, this ‘third space’. The two people sitting in this consultation room, so independent of one another, allow themselves to feel mutual assertion, which enables both parties to understand each other more inherently, causing better outcomes for them both.
Facelessness: lacking a face, lacking individuality, lacking character.
But here, it represents universality, the ability for us, as viewers, to place ourselves as either one of these characters. It is unclear who is the doctor and who is the patient in this scenario. This enables us to place ourselves as either one, or both at the same time as both the teacher and the learner. The lack of faces also allows the normal power dynamic of the doctor and the patient to be removed, giving the viewer a sense of calm, whilst presenting the space as a shared one or mutual assertion.
How can a patient recover, if the doctor doesn’t share understanding of their experiences and pain? How can a doctor heal, if the people do not recognise the unique independence and perspective of the doctor?
The simplicity of the colours used gives it a sense of childishness, alongside the use of cartoon characters. This sense of naivety mirrors my own understanding of this ‘third space’, which was difficult for me to personally understand and explain to others. The use of a cartoon drawing - a visual representation of the concept - made it a lot easier for me to conceptualise and therefore aim to implement in my future training as a healthcare professional.
What are your thoughts on presenting at the exhibition?
‘I think it's really special. I get to share not only my love and talent for art, but also my experiences as a medical student and yeah, just my journey through medical school. I think it's quite a unique experience to be in medical school. I think it's a privilege to be able to share my thoughts not only through writing the words, but also through media that I love and using expression throughout’.
…and do you have any thoughts on the theme?
‘I think coming especially to a university in East London, I see a very different side to what I've been brought up in terms of like the kind of people that we treat. And so belonging to me was a lot about health equity and making sure that everyone can kind of get the same experience. I think a lot of people view doctors as high up in this hierarchy and the patient is quite low down. So, through my art piece, I wanted to really explain that they're on the same level playing field. They have the same common goal of treating the patient. And I think a lot of people don't see that when they're going to the doctor's office — it can be quite a scary experience. But I hope that, through my art, I can kind of explain that it's not meant to be a scary purpose. The doctors are just supposed to be here and to help you with trouble you have. And also from a doctor's point of view that patients are also scared for themselves and they want to make sure that they can get better. So it's kind of working together and both learning from each other 's experiences for the same common goal’.
