We spend a third of our lives asleep and during that time, we are completely unaware of ourselves and our surroundings. What is this transition from consciousness to unconsciousness? What can we know about it?

"Not only is being asleep a solitary act, even the person who is doing the sleeping cannot give an account of it. My challenge was to make the experience of sleep visible. I imagined what was going on in my brain whilst sleeping, in an abstract print using hair (from the pillow), fine chinese collage paper and chemical marks to suggest the activity of a sleeping brain."

Susan Aldworth’s work is held in many public and private collections including the Victoria & Albert Museum, the British Museum, and The Welcome Collection. Susan's work has been exhibited widely nationally and internationally including Realisation at The Fitzwilliam Museum, Cambridge and The Portrait Anatomised at The National Portrait Gallery.

Susan's recent research into the narratives of sleep culminated in the award winning exhibition The Dark Self at York St Mary’s and a commission of 35 works for Guy’s Hospital. Her work is currently showing at Hatton Gallery and Vane in Newcastle and Freelands Foundation, London.

Susan Aldworth is an associate lecturer on the MA Art & Science at Central Saint Martin's, and is a regular presenter on BBC Radio.