SUDDEN CARDIAC ART w/Charlie Kirkham

Sudden Cardiac Art came from the passionate, albeit flawed, hearts of myself, fine artist Charlie Kirkham, and the resuscitation advocates and heart patients @HeartCharged, Bethany & Hannah Keime. It is a revolutionary art exhibition to end preventable cardiac deaths and gender disparity. ​

The exhibition is a part of a movement with a mission to send a loud wake-up call to society to stop discriminatory practices that are letting our neighbours, friends, and even family die in our streets, schools, and homes. 

This is the tale of how it came to be and what it has meant so far. We call on you to join us and help determine how far it will go. 

When you hear stories about delayed diagnoses, they don’t always end well, especially when they are stories about young women with heart conditions. Here’s a story that’s being written in pictures and which I’m confident is heading towards a happy ending.

In 2023, after my own isolating and drawn-out journey to a cardiac diagnosis, I began following heart-related hashtags on Instagram. That’s when I stumbled across HeartCharged, an account run by sisters Bethany and Hannah Keime. These two vibrant young women were advocating fiercely for themselves and others, shining a light on an unsettling trend: delayed diagnoses for cardiac conditions, all too common for women in both the US (where they are located) and UK (where I am located). Worse still, women are less likely to receive bystander help during sudden cardiac arrest; often because bystanders hesitate over touching or ‘flashing the boobs’.

As a visual artist from England, I’ve spent countless hours in the UK’s free art galleries. On the walls of the National Gallery, there are more boobs than you can count. Against this backdrop of bare torsos and scantily clad figures, families stroll by, school children listen to guides unpack the myths behind the paintings, and no one blinks at the human form on display. 

It struck me, if people can gaze at painted breasts without a second thought, maybe they’d look at painted defibrillators too. Maybe art could nudge them to act in a crisis. Maybe art could help save lives. 

I hopped onto a Zoom call with Bethany and Hannah and the ideas flowed freely. That’s how Sudden Cardiac Art was born. 

Our first pieces riffed on art history. familiar scenes with a twist, like defibrillator pads on an iconic Venus. 

Early on, we welcomed @TheArtistRobert (Robert Walker) to the team after meeting in an artist group call. His enthusiasm was infectious, and he jumped in with both brushes ready. Suddenly, we had four artists donating time and talent to raise awareness.

The project hit critical mass when we secured Kingshill House, a Georgian mansion in Gloucester, UK, as our first exhibition venue. From there, it snowballed. By the submission deadline, we’d gathered 37 international artists and 81 artworks. The inaugural show in September 2024 was a triumph. Beyond the art, the well attended community launch event included a panel discussion on sudden cardiac arrest, life-saving skills training, an art history talk tracing how the female form became taboo, and a meetup for “heart warriors” and “bionic babes”. 

Word spread across the Atlantic. Ted Meyer, an artist-curator at the University of Southern California, reached out and in January-February 2025, a condensed version of the exhibition graced the Hoyt Gallery at USC’s Keck School of Medicine. Hannah Keime gave a powerful artist talk, sharing the patient perspective with medical students, while Ted and the artists hosted Instagram Lives. Nineteen artists took part, and the impact deepened.

The real reward has been witnessing art’s ripple effect. Exhibition visitors told us they felt less alone seeing “bionic babes” like themselves in the paintings. A young UK mother with an ICD (implantable cardioverter-defibrillator) said it was her first time meeting someone else like her. Others pledged to learn life-saving skills and pass them on.

Sudden Cardiac Art is far from finished. We’re seeking new venues for future exhibitions, eager to include more artists and writers, and thrilled to keep connecting communities while raising awareness. What began as a seed of an idea has become a flower and you can help determine how it will grow. ∎​

Find & follow on Instagram: 
​@SuddenCardiacArt , @HeartCharged & @CharlieKirkhamArt
Learn more online: www.suddencardiacart.com