En stund
In healthcare environments, there is rarely something beautiful to rest your eyes on or an experience that sparks curiosity and offers distraction. En stund is a project that explores how illustration can be used in such settings, with a focus on the radiotherapy waiting room at Sahlgrenska University Hospital.
A place where people often feel anxious or find themselves in a state of waiting or stillness. The project is based on the rooms’s conditions, with a focus on one of the walls and the curtains by the large windows. Elements that first meet the eye and shape the room’s overall impression.
The work consists of three parts: a forest illustration printed on wallpaper, a screen-printed curtain, and a printed booklet. Designed with care, they respond to the room’s colors, proportions, and use. The illustrations are inspired by the nearby Änggården forest, focusing on in-between spaces, egetation, and the play of light and shadow through the trees. Wallpaper as material often evokes a sense of home. The hope is that this familiarity can bring comfort in a space that might otherwise feel clinical or temporary. Together, the parts create a meeting between the visual, the physical, and the narrative. Something for the eye to rest on, for the hand to hold, and for the memory to carry.
The waiting room is old and shows traces of its former use. Instead of tearing it down and starting over, the project builds on what is already there, with care for the place and its context. By adding rather than removing, the room receives new attention and a transformed atmosphere. The illustrations are made to last over time and be adaptable to similar environments.
@ellikaosterman
ellikaosterman@hotmail.com
