Peterborough artist "blown away" by exhibition visitors opening up about mental health

A Peterborough artist says he's been "blown away" by visitors to his new exhibition opening up about their struggles with mental health.

Paul Kneen's 'PAINtings' collection, on display at Peterborough Museum and Art Gallery, features some 90 works capturing the mental health challenges being felt by people today.

Since the exhibit opened last month, Paul says he's had visitors share their own experiences of having breakdowns, being hospitalised and living with bipolar disorder.

'People are struggling mentally, financially. People are having a tough time at the moment', he said.

'I think people are worried about the future of the planet, society, where we're going, and I wanted to somehow visually portray those feelings and emotions.'

He added: 'I've had people that've told me they've had mental breakdowns; that they've been in hospital.'

'I guess the response from them is that they feel like they're not alone and that people are talking about it mental health; that this is starting conversations, and that we're not just skirting around the issue but taking it head-on.'

'I had someone the other day who is bipolar, they were talking about which paintings meant a lot to them and why. For me that's more important than selling them.'

'I want to have these conversations with people and I want them to feel like this is a safe space to be able to open up about that sort of thing.'

'We carry so much baggage in our heads that, rather than waiting until it's breaking point, I think it's important that we talk to people.'

You can visit the NHS website to find out where to get support with your mental health.

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