Ghastly Delivery:Project Facade

An Approach to Artistic Response
Since 2004, Paddy Hartley has created sculptural responses to the patient records of The Gillies Archive and later life experiences of First World War Servicemen who underwent facial reconstructive surgery at the hand of New Zealander Sir Harold Delf Gillies and his surgical team. The Gillies Archive collated by Dr Andrew Bamji is housed at Queen Mary's Hospital, Sidcup (QMH) and provide a rare and unique insight into the origins and development of surgical facial reconstruction techniques pioneered Gillies.

The 'Positives' of Conflict
Though it is hard to find any positive aspects of the effects of war and conflict on society as a whole, it is without question that the surgical techniques pioneered by Gillies and his team to repair the horrific facial injuries inflicted upon Servicemen formed the foundation of modern-day facial reconstruction from which many tens of thousands of people have benefited. It is important to add that the groundbreaking work of Gillies predates the remarkable work of Gillies cousin, Archibald McIndoe and his association with The Guinea Pig Club during World War Two.

A Global Acknowledgement
The First World War was a truly global conflict and is reflected in the case histories of Servicemen treated at QMH. In addition to the records of Servicemen from the United Kingdom, The Gillies Archive holds the records of New Zealand and Canadian Servicemen. The Royal College of Surgeons Australia in Melbourne holds the records of Australian Servicemen and Hartley has responded to individual case histories of men from across the services and across the Commonwealth. This project is not a commemoration of Commonwealth valour as Hartley is attempting to trace any records and family memories of similarly injured men from other nations involved in the conflict including Germany, France, Russia and the United States.

The Process of 'Making and Interpretation'
An examination and familiarization with particular servicemen's case histories has resulted in the production of 16 sculptural, embroidered garments for the face and upper torso derived from the Military uniforms which the Servicemen wore, the cloth of these sculptural garments being representative of the skin. These 16 pieces tell the stories of 10 servicemen and over the coming years, new stories of additional servicemen will be interpreted and produced. A major aim of the project is to try to trace family members of some of the servicemen treated by Gillies and his team during this period and tell some of the personal stories and recollections of how these extraordinary men coped with their injuries in everyday life. The sculptures are constructed from authentic and replica uniforms from as close to the period as possible and tell fragmented stories of individual Commonwealth Servicemen who suffered major facial trauma and who underwent facial reconstructive surgery. These sculptural garments incorporate digitally printed and digitally embroidered images taken directly from records held at the archive that include photographs, surgical sketches by artist/surgeons such as Henry Tonks, hand written notes along with official and unofficial follow up photographs. Surgical techniques such as the use of the tubed pedicle to transport skin from other parts of the body to the face feature heavily in the work.

Wearing of History
The face, particularly in the case of these Servicemen can tell a lot about the person and their life experiences. It can be said that a person wears their history on their face. The same can be said about the uniforms. The very nature of the uniform removes the personality of the wearer and, amongst other uniformed men, one becomes a mere unit. However, throughout the active service of an individual, the service history of the person is built into the garment, not just through natural wear and tear, but also through the addition of rank, insignia, service chevrons, wound bars and medals. It is this individuality that Hartley has built into his sculptures. As the Servicemen must retain a degree of anonymity, details that allude to the individual's stories will hint to the identity of the men. When dealing with the Servicemen of the First World War, names to a certain degree become unimportant as the soldier, sailor and airman of this conflict really was the typical 'Everyman'.

It is important to add that Paddy does not seek to recreate, nor sensationalize the horrific injuries of these extraordinary men, but to illustrate and contextualize the treatments they endured in the surgical pursuit of regaining a face that was as recognizable as their own before they were injured as was possible and how they coped with their rehabilitation back into society.

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