Gutted! 2023 Installation Prison Cell 2023

This installation in a disused prison cell in The Koppel Station Project (The old Hampstead Police Station) followed on from other work that Judith Walker has created over the last few years, concerning the human gut. These have been inspired by health issues around her own gut. This is an immersive installation which evokes the feelings that a prisoner may have experienced in their guts when they were inside this cell. Research has established that stress has an influence on the gut health and bowel disease. Walker imagines that being imprisoned in a cell would be a stressful gut-wrenching experience. This is a mixed media installation consisting of paintings on un stretched canvases that are made to have the appearance of dirty crumpled bed sheets, together with red latex tubing to represent guts spilling out of the body. Also included are 3D elements such as a life size painted plaster sculpture of a human torso and her Gut Ache series of prints The installation draws on Walker's experience as a cartoonist, using dark humour to connect with her audience. Creating the illusion of the imprisoned person's guts being spread all over the cell; they are both emotionally and physically gutted.