Biography
Dr Simon Hall
BMBS BSc (Hons) BDS (Hons) PGCert (Med Ed) DFSRH MRCS (Eng) MRCGP FHEA
Simon Hall is a UK visual artist dual qualified as both a doctor and dentist. He utilises craft, sculpture, digital media and BioArt to consider medical ethics, emerging technologies and the body in health and disease. With multi-faceted experience in both community healthcare and reconstructive medicine, Simon’s work often transects arts and medical spaces to explore issues of visible difference, identity and the portrait. His work draws together patients, clinicians, artists and academics to collaborate on socially engaged curiosity driven arts research. Simon's work aims to embed deeper learning strategies through the arts within clinical education, explore healthcare narratives, and deliver participatory arts experiences.
Simon is a self employed GP, member of the Royal College of General Practitioners and an Honorary Academic Clinical Fellow with the Centre for Academic Primary Care at the University of Bristol. Academically he explores art & medicine co-production research and also the integration of arts and humanities within medical education. He provides consultancy and project management support for projects exploring the intersection of art & medicine. Within his role Simon lectures and leads arts workshops for university students, professionals and the general public. On a background additionally of a 1st class degree in Anatomy, an Honours degree in Dentistry from King's College London and membership of the Royal College of Surgeons England, Simon utilises medical resources such as the dissection room, operating theatre and wet lab laboratory in his artwork. From skin cells grown in the laboratory to dental materials science, Simon seeks to playfully and experimentally explore at the transection of disciplines, craft using materials developed within clinical environments and connect with healthcare narratives.
Simon is currently undertaking Brigstow Institute (Unversity of Bristol) funded research exploring the co-design of reconstructive prosthetics with service users and diverse professionals in Art Laboratories. Prosthetic Futures investigates the embodiment and senses of future prostheses and speculates on how reconstructive prosthetics will adapt to future environments.
Recently he has been artist in residence with Studio 549 exploring rural Portguese medicine through local histories and digital technologies and also Metal Culture UK exploring the historical relationship with coastal waters and air through BioArt. He has been artist in residence notably at the historical burns research institution, the Blond McIndoe Research Foundation, the South West Cleft Service and the Cleft Lip and Palate Association. He often collaborates under the umbrella of art/science organisations to share skills and knowledge between professionals across disciplines such as the Institute of Unnecessary Research, for whom he is a departmental head, and collaborator with the Health Humanities Centre at the University of Reading. His work has been exhibited at venues of numerous project partners and supporters including Science Gallery London, University of Bristol Medical School, Brighton and Sussex Medical School and Kings College London Dental Institute.
Simon has presented talks and led workshops on his artwork at numerous venues including The University of Oxford, The V&A Museum, The Royal College of Surgeons, The Royal College of Nursing & The University of Otago. His work has additionally been presented extensively at national and international medical conferences including the Medical Artists Association, Anatomical Society, British Association of Oral and Maxillofacial Surgery & European Association for Cranio-Maxillofacial Surgery.