This piece is part of a series which takes the abandoned tower blocks of the city centre as a metaphor for mental illness in a person, where the person's body is the cityscape post-COVID. I was prompted to address my own history and my family's history of postnatal psychotic illness following the isolation and thinking time afforded by the lockdowns during the COVID-19 pandemic. I secured funding from Arts Council England to pursue my project ' The wounded oyster turns grit into pearl: processing trauma through painting'. On a residency in Leicester city centre, I was inspired to use the abandoned buildings as a metaphor for this. The painting shows my aunt (who suffered from mental ill health all her life and unfortunately took her own life when I was six years old) holding me on her wedding day. We both ended up giving birth despite our mental illnesses and took the risk that postpartum psychosis would strike however we still 're-entered the broken building' and experienced much positivity as well as suffering from the experience. The painting speaks to anyone who has suffered from mental illness, whether brought on by surroundings or by genetics. 

Read more about Lucy Cade.