Student Donates Superhero Artwork to Children’s Hospital

East Sussex College Lewes Level 4 Creative Enterprise student, Josh Agozzino, who last year studied Art & Design, has handed over three poster illustrations to the members of the Royal Alexandra Children's Hospital in Brighton.

The three framed works of art were commissioned back in April last year by Rockinghorse Children's Charity on behalf of the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital and will be displayed in the Teenage Room of the hospital.

Last week, the Teenage Room at the hospital was given a bit of added colour thanks to three beautiful new framed images of Marvel Superheroes and villains created by Josh.

Josh decided to paint three large images of his favourite subject, Marvel comics, and donate them to the Royal Alexandra Children’s Hospital. He loves comic illustrations and after his current course finishes, Josh is hoping to get a place on the BA (Hons) Comic and Concept Art degree course at Leeds Arts University.

In total, Josh’s paintings took about 160 hours of work starting with the initial drawings then digitally transferring them onto Photoshop and creating the many different layers that make up each image.

Speaking on the motivation behind this inspiring project, Josh said, “I’ve always been a big fan of Superheroes, it’s more of a religion! I see it as a form of escapism and have a lot of hope in them.

“I thought that they would resonate with other young people. They might be worried or scared and these could help distract them during their time in hospital. My favourite is Spider-Man or Captain America, but I also really like Wolverine as he’s a really protective presence and only gets angry when he really needs to.”

James DiBiase, Josh’s tutor and Art & Design Course Leader at East Sussex College, said, “Josh has always had a lot of connection with superheroes and got a lot of solace and comfort from looking at them.”

“We have previously done four murals at the hospital, including the fairground one on Level 9. If it helps the teenagers who come through here, then it’s really worthwhile. This time, because of covid, we have provided these artworks in frames, but however we can help this is a great way to support the charity, the hospital and the wonderful NHS.”

Amanda Hetherington, Corporate Engagement Manager at Rockinghorse, was really grateful for these new additions to the hospital, and said, “We have been working with East Sussex College for several years and it’s wonderful that these talented students want to help support other young people in hospital.

“They are all so talented and it’s so exciting to see what they create each time. Thanks so much to Josh for putting so much time and effort into these creations and to James for supporting his passion.”