Sleeping Baby by Stik Background & Meaning

Stik’s tender Sleeping Baby series originates from his mural painted on Homerton Hospital, with the 100-print issue released as a fundraising tool. The series originates in a mural painted by STIK on a wall belonging to Homerton Hospital in Hackney, London. The 100 prints (25 in NHS blue, red, silver and yellow respectively) were originally sold to fundraise for the hospital alongside the unveiling of the mural, with buyers queuing overnight for the chance to purchase.

The series depicts a trademark six-line stickman figure lying on its side with its eyes closed. With one hand clasping the scalp and another cushioning the head, the figure is at once vulnerable and secure, simultaneously at peace and in danger. While we know the figure depicted is a baby thanks to the print’s title, the figure’s construction is no different to the classic stickman figure in every piece by the artist. Viewed in isolation, this could be a representation of any human in repose.

The mural, painted in ‘NHS Blue’, as is one of the four prints from the series, can be read as an ode to the sanctuary offered by the National Health Service, with the piece’s figure appearing to rest serenely, cushioned by a sea of colour. On the other hand, the fragility of the stickman could allude to a vulnerable National Health Service, which STIK perceives to be just as fragile as the figure depicted in Sleeping Baby: “The NHS is our baby. It is very vulnerable, and we the people need to take care of it”. At the time of the junior doctor’s strike of 2016, the image was used on placards alongside slogans including “Hands Off The NHS”. Homerton hospital has personal significance for STIK; he attests to visiting the hospital on several occasions in times of need: “They saved my life a few times, stitched me back together,” he says.

The anonymity of the artist’s stickmen is no accident; the protection that this figure needs invites the viewer’s identification and empathy. The image’s marriage of personal and political significance is potently reflective of the constant coalescing of the universal and the intimate in Stik’s work.

We are used to seeing Stik’s figures standing, moving and interacting. This series’ slumbering child offers a sedate counterpart to the frequently active figure in STIK’s pieces, without any loss in the acute social commentary typical of the artist often called ‘the new Banksy’.

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10 Facts About Stik's Sleeping Baby

The Sleeping Baby series is based on a mural Stik painted on Homerton Hospital in London, his local hospital. At the hospital, members of the public queued in their thousands to pick up a signed edition of the print. Stik explained the philanthropic motive behind this project: “As an artist I’m acting as a representative of my community, showing fondness and love for an institution we all need, and expressing its vulnerability – and strength also”.

After his original mural was painted in 2015, Stik's Sleeping Baby became the mascot for striking junior doctors in the UK. With the Sleeping Baby image at the centre of their placards, text banners around the image read "The NHS is our baby", "Hands off the NHS", and "Stop privatisation".

In front of a boldly coloured background, Stik's cutesy figure appears in the centre of the composition dozing. With eyes closed in sleep, the curled up stick-figure rests its head on its hands. Contrary to a lot of Stik's animated figures, Sleeping Baby appears vulnerable in this sleeping state, speaking to the fragility of the NHS.