Rebecca Ivatts

Beyond the Garden

Rebecca Ivatts - Beyond the Garden

Beyond the Garden

Acrylic paint, pipe cleaner, plastic flowers on board

84.1 x 59.4cm

Our brain provides a rich internal playground – or, in this case, external garden - for us to think freely and creatively. Scientists have identified a widespread neural network - the brain's "mental workspace" - that consciously manipulates images, symbols, ideas and theories.

This painting was inspired by an image of a stroke. In some cases where the stroke damages parts of the brain that ‘inhibit’ behaviour, the resultant ‘disinhibition’ can unleash untramelled creativity.