Artwork raises funds for APP

Oil on CanvasA unique and evocative piece donated by the exciting artist Dale vN Marshall was auctioned in December. After much anticipation and some fierce bidding, we were very pleased the final figure reached £594.

We would like to thank Dale and his supporters for this incredible chance to raise money to support, campaign, research, publish, inform and connect to build a better future for all those effected by Postpartum Psychosis. I’d like to add my own personal thanks for creating a remarkable body of work that transcends words and moved me so deeply.

Title: 'Am I Richard Diebenkorn?'   Oil on canvas 30x40cm, unframed

Artist Statement: "I don’t know about anyone else who has had a psychotic experience but my personal experiences were controlled by association. I had no awareness of my existence and believed I had met my death and was in another place.

For instance, Richard Diebenkorn is among my favourite artists today and the ‘Die’ would have caused a roller coaster of a journey. For example if someone were to ask what is your name, I would possibly answer “You can call me Rich”, and I would believe that answer too.

When some are having episodes and replying with random talk I would probably guess that there is a trigger for the replied answer. There is a trigger for everything, thought on different levels.

This work is a subconscious ode to the late artist in the style of his Berkeley years. I feel honoured to be asked to donate to this great charity of APP and I am also proud to now be strong enough to share my dark but magical experiences."


Artist Information: www.dalevnmarshall.co.uk     

'Walls With Wounds'

'The End of an Era'

'Beauty in the Wound'

Dale's recent exhibition “Beauty in the Wound”, a solo exhibition at Soze Gallery, California.

Artsy's Richard Diebenkorn page including biography, works, articles and shows.


My visit to 'Walls With Wounds' Exhibition

Written by Andrea.

It was during a day out at the Herbert Art Gallery and Museum, Coventry, with my son Jake, that I first came across the provocative contemporary fine art painter Dale vN Marshall. We’d had a great day investigating the Museum when a leaflet in the reception area for the 'Walls With Wounds' landmark exhibition caught my eye. On reading the words ‘gritty consequences led to psychotic episodes’….’sectioned in one of Britain’s oldest asylums’ ….’Marshall draws his inspiration from his personal experience of battling with mental health;’ I was bounding up the staircase two at a time to see his work.

I was mesmerized by his work. His accurate and moving portrayal of the ‘cracks’ he experienced as a young man, serve as a poignant reminder of the traumatic, dark times we endure in the throws of psychosis, perinatal or otherwise. His compelling body of artwork took my breath away, a powerful visual representation of exactly what I had been through. For years I had been looking for images that in some way explain the unexplainable and show what I'd experienced during Postpartum Psychosis (PP) and this was by far the best interpretation. The horror, fear, numbness, struggle, wounds, scars were all evident but also beauty, hope, healing and redemption. Marshall quotes in his book ‘Walls with Wounds,’ 'The wound is the place where the light enters you' ~ Rumi. As I stood there on a happy family day out, eight years on, fully recovered with my son by my side, these words made me smile. They capture perfectly the after effects of PP; that out of the darkness of the illness, has emerged a better, stronger, more understanding individual. How far I have come.

After the exhibition I got in touch with Dale and he kindly responded with the generous donation of this amazing and valuable piece. Dale said he very much respected our organization and the work we do and he was very willing to support us. His extraordinary personal journey of mental illness, suffering and recovery will strike a chord with so many who have had PP or been affected by it in some way.