Last week the teenage room at the Royal Alex was given a bit of added colour thanks to three beautiful new framed images of Marvel Superheroes and villains created by a student from East Sussex College in Lewes.
Often the walls of a hospital can be very bare without much to look at apart from leaflets and bits of equipment. However, in the children’s hospital it’s really important to make the spaces more homely and colourful. Not only does this help make the environment less clinical, it can also reduce stress and worry for the patients visiting or staying for treatment.
This is why, here at Rockinghorse, we often fund projects designed to improve these environments and make them nicer places to be. But sometimes we are lucky enough to have some artwork donated to the Alex which can really make an extra difference to so many.
Josh with one of his paintings
And this was the case with Josh Agozzino a student on the Creative Enterprise course at East Sussex College in Lewes. Josh decided to create three large images of his favourite subject, Marvel comics, and donate them to the teenage room at the Royal Alex.
Josh loves comic illustrations and after his current course finishes, Josh is hoping to get a place on the BA (Hons) Comic and Concept Art degree course at Leeds Arts University. And the subject matter for these pictures was one close to his heart, “I’ve always been a big fan of Superheroes, it’s more of a religion! I see it as a form of escapism and have a lot of hope in them.”
When asked about why he chose to create these images for the hospital, Josh said, “I thought that they would resonate with other young people. They might be worried or scared and these could help distract them during their time in hospital.”
And when asked about his personal favourite character, he said, “My favourite is Spider-Man or Captain America, but I also really like Wolverine as he’s a really protective presence and only gets angry when he really needs to.”
James DiBiase, Art and Design Extended Diploma course leader and Josh’s tutor added, “Josh has always had a lot of connection with superheroes and got a lot of solace and comfort from looking at them.”
Josh with his tutor James
And this isn’t the first time James’ students have supported the hospital. He said, “We have previously done four murals at the hospital, including the fairground one on Level 9. If it helps the teenagers who come through here, then it’s really worthwhile.
“This time, because of covid, we have provided these artworks in frames, but however we can help this is a great way to support the charity, the hospital and the wonderful NHS.”
In total Josh’s paintings took about 160 hours of work starting with the initial drawings then digitally transferring them onto Photoshop and create the many different layers that make up each image.
Amanda Hetherington, Corporate Engagement Manager at Rockinghorse, was really grateful for these new additions to the hospital, “We have been working with East Sussex College for several years and it’s wonderful that these talented students want to help support other young people in hospital.
“They are all so talented and it’s so exciting to see what they create each time. Thanks so much to Josh for putting so much time and effort into these creations and to James for supporting his passion.”
