THE ART OF BEING HERE | Kirilee West
Kirilee West has been a Critical Care nurse for over 13 years at one of Australia’s largest trauma hospitals. Inspired by her background as an artist, she recently began painting and drawing images from her time in the Emergency Department as part of an arts-based research project exploring the ‘hidden’ moments of care. West’s artworks focus on the moments found in between what is documented in a patient’s progress notes: showing moments of gentleness, compassion and vulnerability that are shared daily between patients and staff. She values creating safe spaces and making people feel seen and heard in their experiences, and believes art is an important tool in achieving this in medical spaces.