I’m Ali, a visual artist and photographer based in Lewes, East Sussex, UK. I create characters through the medium of illustration, collage and costume, produce small publications and installations and work on projects at the intersection of the arts, health and medicine.

My work is inspired by Scandinavian folklore and landscapes, Japanese character culture, 1970’s psychedelic animations, Eastern European book illustration, Surrealist experiments, dreams and subconscious wanderings. I have exhibited in London, Berlin and Finland and some of my drawings are in Outsider Art collection The Museum of Everything.

Since studying for my BA in Psychology and Philosophy I have long been fascinated by what helps people live well. Combining this interest with my creative skills, I have many years experience designing and leading therapeutic arts workshops in day centres, schools, care homes, GP practices and hospitals.

In 2016 I started working as an artist and researcher on cross-disciplinary arts, health and medicine research projects collaborating with scientists, doctors and academics. I have worked with institutions such as King’s College London, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, the Wellcome Centre for Interventional and Surgical Sciences (WEISS) at UCL and the Youth Resilience Unit at Queen Mary University London.

My projects have involved exploring how the arts can help communicate patients’ experiences of ‘invisible’ physical conditions such as Crohns disease and Neuropathy, facilitating creative workshops to help scientists and researchers explore Bowel Cancer patients’ perceptions of Artificial Intelligence being used in diagnosis and using creative methods to engage with seldom heard groups around health and wellbeing.

I am also passionate about how creative approaches can be utilised to enhance children’s wellbeing and resilience, and am especially interested in how neurodivergent children and young people can be helped using the arts. In 2023-2024 I am delighted to have been awarded an Arts Council England Developing your Creative Practice grant to develop an illustrated mental health resource for children, which I am currently in the scoping stage for. I have also run creative workshops with primary school children around mental health with the Youth Resilience Unit at Queen Mary’s University London and in 2017 I also created ‘My Memory Forest’ a children’s mental health publication with psychologists at the |nstitute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience.

I also have a strong interest in creative approaches to medical education and in 2024 I am working with Brighton and Sussex Medical School to design and teach a course for Year 1 and 2 Medical Students on Creative Health and Whole Person approaches to Medicine, incorporating arts and health, nature based medicine, Positive Psychology and case studies from my experience as an NHS Social Prescriber.

I also have 15 years experience of photographing and interviewing unique people on the streets and at events across the UK, Europe and Japan for publications such as Vogue and The Independent. I now take portraits and interview people who are 60+ to promote Positive Ageing, diversity and inclusion for clients such as The Guardian Weekend, European Network of Ageing Studies and Centre for Ageing Better.

With a background as a vintage dealer and events organiser, I also keep an archive of vintage illustration, book covers and obscure Eastern European design artefacts on my blog Kuriosas which has been featured by arts institutions such as GRAD

Please get in touch - I am always open to new projects and collaborations

aliwinstanley@gmail.com | 0779 307 2966 

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ALI WINSTANLEY | ARTIST & ARTS + HEALTH CV

ACADEMIC TALKS & TEACHING

2023-2024 Creative Health and Whole Person Approaches to Medicine and Wellbeing Academic tutor involved in designing, teaching and assessing a Student Selected Component for Year 1 and 2 undergraduate medical students on holistic approaches to medicine and tackling health inequalities, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

2020 Arts, Health and Wellbeing Seminar on my projects using the Arts for Physical and Mental Health conditions for academics at the Department of Primary Care and Public Health, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

2019 Creative Approaches to Public Engagement with Research, Arts and Public Engagement workshops with PhD and Early Career Researchers, Wellcome Centre for Surgical and Interventional Sciences, UCL, London

2018 Arts Based Participatory Approaches, Translational Research Workshop with PhD and Early Career Researchers, Centre for Primary Care and Public Health, Queen Mary University, London

RESEARCH PAPERS

2020 ‘Targeting image-based autobiographical memory in childhood to prevent emotional disorders: Intervention development and a feasibility randomised controlled trial’ Victoria Pile, Ali Winstanley, Abigail Oliver, Eleanor Bennett, Jennifer Y. F. Lau. 2020.

2019 ‘Exploring a novel intervention targeting image-based autobiographical memory to reduce vulnerability to emotional disorders in children’ by Pile, Victoria; Winstanley, Ali; Oliver, Abigail; Lau, Jennifer. 2019.

ACADEMIC JOURNALS & PUBLICATIONS

2021 Behaviour Research and Therapy Journal

2019 Journal of Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Association for Child and Adolescent Mental Health

2019 European Federation of Crohns and Colitis Associations Membership Publication

2015 Age Culture Humanities Journal, European Network of Ageing Studies

FUNDING AWARDS

2022 Arts Council England: Developing Your Creative Practice Children’s art and mental health projects

2019 King’s Culture Skyscape Wellbeing

2018 King’s Culture Making the Invisible Visible: Fatigue in IBD

2018 British Council My Memory Forest evaluation

2017 King’s Culture My Memory Forest publication

WORKSHOPS & PARTICIPATION

2023-2024 Academic tutor involved in designing, teaching and assessing a Student Selected Component for Year 1 and 2 undergraduate medical students, Creative Health and Whole Person Approaches to Medicine and Wellbeing, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

2023 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Positive Psychology and Arts workshops, Year 5 and 6 pupils, Hamsey School, East Sussex and Mouselcoomb School, Brighton

2022 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Positive Psychology and Arts and Wellbeing workshops, Year 7 and 8 pupils, Priory School Lewes

2022 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Mental Health and Resilience arts workshops with Year 4 and 5 pupils, Brampton Primary School, Newham, London in collaboration with the Youth Resilience Unit (YRU) at Queen Mary’s University, London

2022 Co-Lead Artist and Facilitator, ‘Telling your Story’ - Arts, Mental Health & Wellbeing workshops with Year 7 & 8 pupils, Priory School, Lewes through Cultureshift, East Sussex

2022 Lead Artist and Facilitator, BAME Mental Health and Resilience creative workshops, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

2022 Lead Artist and Facilitator, ‘Unlocking Data’ Creative Health Data workshops, Brighton and Sussex Medical School

2021 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Bowel Cancer and A.I Patient Workshops, Wellcome Centre for Surgical and Interventional Sciences, UCL, London

2020 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Arts and Neuropathy Patient Workshops, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, King’s College London.

2020 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Zoom ‘Arts of Wellbeing’ Covid-19 creative wellbeing workshops, Wellsbourne Healthcare, Brighton

2019 Lead Artist and Facilitator, Arts and Public Engagement Workshops, Wellcome Centre for Surgical and Interventional Sciences, UCL, London

2019 Lead Artist, Skyscape Photography Workshops, King’s College London

2018 Lead Artist, Comfort Creature Workshops, Families Week, Great Ormond Street Hospital, London

2018 Lead Artist, ‘Making the Invisible Visible: Fatigue in IBD’ Patient Workshops, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, London

2018 Lead Artist, Skyscape Photography Workshops, King’s College London

2018 Lead Artist, My Memory Forest workshop, Arts in Mind Festival, Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, London

2017 Lead Artist, My Memory Forest Art and Wellbeing workshop, Wallands Junior School, Lewes

2016 Support Artist, Arts and Adults with Learning Disabilities, Grace Eyre, Hove

2015 Support Artist, Arts and Older People, Resonate, Westbourne Park Day Centre, London

2014 Producer, Art and Emotions family workshops, Maudsley Learning, London

2014 Support Artist, Neurorehabilitation Unit, Homerton Hospital NHS Trust, London

2014 Lead Artist, Arts for Older people, Trust Thamesmead, London

2013 Lead Artist, Family arts workshops, Kaantopaikka, Helsinki Night of the Arts Festival, Finland

2013 Lead Artist, Young people’s workshops, Joutsa High School, Jousta, Finland

2013 Support Artist, Comic workshops, Kid’s Company, Clapham Manor Junior School, London

2012 Support Artist, Arts and Older People, Resonate, Westbourne Park Day Centre, London

EXHIBITIONS & PRESENTATIONS

2019 Making the Invisible Visible: Fatigue in IBD, Early Career Researchers Showcase, Bush House, King’s College, London

2019 Skyscape Wellbeing, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing, London

2018 Newhaven Open, Newhaven, East Sussex

2018 Micro Library Books Presentation, Bergen Art Book Fair, Bergen, Norway

2013 Remnant: An Enduring Trace, Studio 1:1, London

2013 Forest world, Kaantopaikka, Helsinki, Finland

2013 Eye-Line, Joint show with Rachael Macarthur, Das Gift, Berlin, Germany

2012 Ridley Road Open Studios, Ridley Road Studios, London

2011 Museum of Everything Open Exhibition, Tate Modern Turbine Hall, London

2011 Ridley Road Open Studios, Ridley Road Studios, London

CONFERENCES - VISUAL PRESENTATIONS

2017 Ageing and Inclusion, Greater London Authority, London

2016 Future of Ageing, Institute for Longevity, London

2015 Ageing Well, Royal Society of Medicine, London

2014 How to Age, School of Life, London

2013 Addressing the Ageing Demographic, Royal College of Art, London

RESIDENCIES

2013 Haihatus International Art Residency, Joutsa, Finland

COLLECTIONS

2014 PYMCA Youth Culture Photographic Archive

2011 Museum of Everything, Outsider Art collection

PUBLICATIONS

2018 My Memory Forest II, King’s College London

2017 My Memory Forest, King’s College London

2017 Trypophobia, Micro Library Books

2009 Kaiyobi, Self published

NEWSPAPERS, MAGAZINES & PUBLISHING

2015 Nylon Japan, JP (Print)

2014 How to Age, Pan Macmillan and School of Life (Publication)

2014 Guardian Weekend Magazine, UK (Print)

2013 Vogue, UK (Web)

2013 Telegraph, UK (Web)

2013, Glamour, UK (Web)

2012 i newspaper, UK (Print)

2012 Guardian Newspaper, UK (Web)

2012 Elle, UK (Web)

2012, Grazia, UK (Web)

2012 WGSN (Web)

2011 BLDG WLF (Web)

2011 Museum of Everything Book II (Print)

2011 Bronze Age Editions (Web)

EDUCATION & TRAINING

BA Psychology and Philosophy, University of Sheffield

CPCAB Certificate in Counselling Skills

Certificate in Positive Psychology Coaching, Centre for Coaching

King’s Interdisciplinary Award: Art and Mental Health, King’s College London

Health Improvement and Behaviour Change for Health, Royal Society for Public Health

Motivational Interviewing, Change Grow Live

Autism Awareness, Grace Eyre

Introduction to Good Clinical Research Practice, National Institute for Health Research (NIHR)

Oral History Interviewing, Oral History Society

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Clients and Collaborators:

The Guardian, Telegraph, i newspaper, The Royal College of Art, Pan Macmillan, Royal Society of Medicine, University of Oxford, Great Ormond Street Hospital, The Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience, Centre for Ageing Better, University College London, King's College London, Queen Mary University London, Brighton and Sussex Medical School, Wellcome ESPRC Centre for Surgical and Interventional Sciences, Florence Nightingale School of Nursing and Midwifery, Bowel Research UK, Greater London Authority, Helen Hamlyn Centre for Design, Wellsbourne Healthcare, Grace Eyre, Trust Thamesmead, Westminster Arts, Institute for Longevity, European Network of Ageing Studies, Elle, Vogue, Nylon Japan, WGSN, Visit Finland, The School of Life, Virgin Airlines, Frankfurt Airport