Hotel Mind is based on the six actual paintings conceived between 2005 and 2009. It tackles one of the last taboo’s - that of loss and the expression of grief. The result of four years work by artist Juliet King, Hotel Mind narrates it’s own journey of grief - from the confusion of tragedy through to the quest for perspective and understanding, expressed by six large scale paintings of hotels. Each one with the facade removed, exposes roomfuls of emotive imagery that accompany a bereft path. The use of hotels as metaphors is multifaceted. As temporary places of residence, hotels symbolise transition from one stage to another. They act as a detour - a mourning of the difference between the life one was going to have and the reality of the life one does have. They also lack the personal identity cultivated from one’s own unique life history and question the physical and emotional attachments that we would associate with the security of a home.



Hotel Mind contains a total of 72 rooms, each one housing a figurative portrayal of feelings associated with each stage of the narrative. These include the first and second stages of grief (Hotel Devastation and Hotel Aftermath), dependency (Hotel Dependence), co-dependency (Hotel Rescuer), anxiety (Hotel Freak Out) and realisation (Hotel Healing).



The idea to turn Hotel Mind into a book was to create not just an art book but also a therapists resource in helping clients to pinpoint and manage their own feelings.



Proceeds from the sales of Hotel Mind, the Book are donated to STUDIO UPSTAIRS, a UK registered charity providing artistic resources and support to adults experiencing mental and emotional distress and in drug and alcohol recovery.