'Apparitions' comprises a haunting journey through Horton Cemetery in Epsom, where thousands of pauper patients, mostly women, from five nearby asylums were buried. Now derelict and overgrown, it has had all but one grave marker removed.

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The footage is overlaid with words from the medical case notes of those buried there, offering a glimpse into Victorian views of mental illness and of pauper patients.

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The specially commissioned music, inspired by a visit to the Cemetery, seeks to give voice to the voiceless and serve as a requiem to the long forgotten.

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By drawing attention to this abandoned cemetery, 'Apparitions' raises questions about attitudes towards mental illness and highlights issues of institutional care/neglect, past and present.

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Eric Fong is a multidisciplinary artist, and his practice is driven by a keen interest in the juncture between art, medicine and health, informed by his experience as a former medical doctor.  

Fong’s process is interdisciplinary and collaborative, involving in-depth engagement with his collaborators and extensive research into the subject.

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Fong holds an MA Fine Art from Goldsmiths College, and has exhibited across the UK and internationally, including Pratt Manhattan Gallery, New York; Ludwig Museum of Contemporary Art, Budapest; Royal Scottish Academy, Edinburgh; Nunnery Gallery, and Royal Academy, London.

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Fong has received numerous awards, including RBSA Photography Prize, Birmingham, Shutter Hub’s Format Yearbook Award, and longlisted for the Aesthetica Art Prize. One of his works is in the Arts Council England Collection.

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