Critical Review
Sleeping Baby (red) is a screen print released as an edition of 25 in 2015 upon the unveiling of the mural of the same name at Homerton Hospital, London).
A screen print on paper in red, white, and black, Sleeping Baby (red) portrays a slumbering child.
Taking the form of a stickman lying calmly in a sea of colour, this print can be understood as a tribute to the refuge provided by the National Health Service to those in need. The coming together of personal and political meanings in this image is a powerful reflection of the continual coalescence of the universal and the intimate that characterises Stik's work. The slumbering infant in this series serves as a more tranquil counterpoint to the typically active figure in Stik's works, without undermining the artist's incisive societal critique.
Stik presents his hopeful vision of community via this image, which celebrates the work of the National Health Service and fosters community through the social connections its release engendered. The non-specific identity of the artist's stickmen is no accident; the desire for protection that this character bears compels the audience to identify and empathise with the piece.
