BiopolarScapes

BiopolarScapes offers a new perspective to Sarah Graham’s practice, bringing together 72 paintings inspired by photographs of the sky, some of which she took during a 6 month period in hospital in 2025 with bipolar psychosis and mania. The number represents the months in remission that separated Graham’s two stays in hospital under section, giving the series a sense of time, distance and reflection, while marking a new phase in her artistic practice. They have been a cathartic process, aiding her recovery throughout 2026.

With BiopolarScapes, Graham takes a personal approach to her work, drawing on her own experience of bipolar disorder to explore themes of mental health, resilience and perspective. In recent years, Graham has also become an advocate for mental health awareness, using her platform as an artist to speak openly about bipolar disorder, share her experiences and challenge the stigma surrounding mental health. Through her work and advocacy, she aims to offer reassurance and hope, demonstrating that a mental health diagnosis does not prevent someone from going on to lead a successful and fulfilling life.

Alongside the paintings, the exhibition presents a new body of photographic work. Photography has long been part of Graham’s creative process, with photographs often serving as studies for her paintings. This new photographic series draws on the familiar motifs and imagery for which Graham is known for; childhood toys and icons of pop culture. Photographing these subjects directly, Graham offers a more intimate insight into her process while retaining her playful compositions and visual language that have become characteristic of her work. They explore the shifts in mental states of bipolar, the stark contrasts, highs, lows, isolation, euphoria, all through metaphorical imagery.

There are other elements within the exhibition, both revealing and informative, through which Graham hopes to educate viewers about the condition.