Colin Crotty (b. 1974) A New Friend

This painting presents a community health nurse busy working at floor level tending to one of two black children who are both sitting on the same beanbag. Their mother looks on seated on a bed beside them. The temporary and contained nature of the family’s
accommodation is underlined by the blank walls with a small number of children’s artworks loosely attached and the large fridge decorated with colourful magnets. The movement between interior and exterior is less pronounced in this composition than in the other two paintings in the Taking Care series, with a glimmer of the world beyond suggested in the glimpse of green foliage and pale sky blue background that breaks up the predominantly peach, purple and cream tones of the bedsit space.

The significant role nurses play in providing information and a connection to the wider community for new communities as well as older people became evident during the artist's consultations. Crotty visited the Drishane Castle Direct Provision Centre outside Millstreet in county Cork (Direct Provision is Ireland's system of accommodating those seeking international protection while in the asylum process) where he met with the local community health nurses and witnessed first-hand their interactions with families.