I am obsessed with the intrinsic connection between the human and natural form.  I envision a confluence of the feminine and the sea, contriving into forms beyond human: a future where our bodies become oceanic. A reverence for the vulva is held at the shrine that is my work; challenging societal taboos and celebrating the power and sanctity of the feminine form. The overarching concern of my work is ecofeminism, a critique of how patriarchal systems contribute to both the exploitation of the environment and the marginalisation of women throughout history. My sculptures intertwine the human form with the natural, evoking a sense of unity and reverence for both, challenging viewers to reconsider/rekindle their relationship with nature.

 

Motifs reoccur throughout my artwork, interconnecting with one another. Pilgrimage and sanctuary set out the foundation of my work, with their roots in folklore, medievalism, and mythology. I have carried out extensive research on the depictions of women and the female figure throughout history which has shaped the ideals within my practice. The first object that repeats across my artwork is my reimagined pilgrim badge. Inspired by the medieval badges worn by pilgrims, collected on a journey to a religious shine and worn with the belief that their depictions of genitalia would ward off evil. Some badges include both motifs; the vulva and the shell. The Scallop is the symbol of  St James, the patron saint of pilgrimage, meanwhile, the adornment of the vulva was used as it was thought to have apotropaic powers due to the female ability to carry and birth new life. This has become such a significant context to my practice as I explore the irony of how the female form is both worshipped and feared. I draw connections between this fact and the nature of the sea; its beauty and danger. Mythology and folklore contribute to the research of this topic as they explore the two different sides of these beliefs; the worshipping of goddesses contrasted with god-fearing witch-hunts. Kristeva’s theory on abjection and Creed's ‘The Monstrous feminine’  offers the ‘Freudian notion of the castrated female’ as an explanation for the shock of the unconcealed vulva, and further research on Kristeva and Irigaray’s Critiques on Phallocentrism draw upon the traditional male Christian God, stressing ‘the necessity of changing the representational system of Christian symbols in phallocentric culture.’. 

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The starting point of my work began with the adoption and adaptation of Medieval Pilgrim Badges, reimagining these artefacts to bridge past and present with new sacred objects that honour the feminine and advocate for ecological consciousness. Further research was conducted into the cross-cultural, ritualised genital display of female figures through reading articles and visiting Manchester Museum where I encountered ancient Egyptian fertility pots. It is interesting to note how generally male phallic display is associated with ‘rank demonstration and threat’ (Sutterlin, 2016) while female genital display is erotic and related to fertility. Pilgrim Badges, however, transcend this as the image of the vulva is used as an ‘evil eye’- a defence against ill intent. I became fixated on adornment and jewellery making and began casting pewter metal into silicone moulds in response to pilgrim badges. However, this material was far too heavy to be worn practically as a badge and the texture and natural colour of the shell were lost, to resolve this, I decided to use natural materials only; shell and terracotta clay. This is deliberate and important to the context of my work. 

 

My personal connection and love for the sea have meant that I have always explored rock pools, but this practice has become a crucial part of my process. Collecting, washing, organising, and mass-making sculptures into shells, has become almost ritualistic, and in a way, my own act of worship for both the coastal landscape and the female anatomy I sculpt. I use shells not just as an homage to pilgrim badges or the sea, but also to represent the idea of a sanctuary - a safe space/ home. Visiting Yorkshire Sculpture Park was where I became infatuated by Shell Grottos and their history. The earliest grottos from Ancient Greece were thought to be pagan shrines for water nymphs, their inside walls adorned with mosaics using seashells, while others like the one discovered in Margate, are theorised to be a meeting place for sea witches. I decided that I would create my own Shell Grotto, using my reimagined pilgrim badges as the shells decorating the inside. 

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Initially, I wanted this piece to be a large-scale cave, in which the viewer could enter and stand inside, however, the practicality of the strength and quality of a structure, and the limited timescale I had, meant I had to reconsider. I decided that a smaller sculpture in which the audience had to explore by crouching down and peering inside would be much more engaging and effective. The act of this also imitates my making process of exploring and spending time crouched down and observing rock pools. This idea was also sparked by Pipilotti Rist’s, ‘Selbstlos im Lavabad‘, a tiny film piece installed into the floor, provoking the audience to manoeuvre, bend down, and get on the floor to view it. After constructing the cave structure from wire, plaster, and cardboard pulp, I bedazzled the inside with pilgrim badges and photographed it in the rock pools, to create a world in which these objects exist naturally formed and washed up on the shoreline. The reflections of water onto the inside of the Grotto made it apparent that it would need light and movement to activate it in a gallery space, so I projected a film piece of underwater footage inside a rock pool onto the base of the Grotto. Visiting the Baltic made me consider sound and its relation and importance to my work; the volume and where it is coming from. I decided it needed to be heard coming from inside the cave as if putting a shell to the ear and listening for the waves. The sound is crucial to my work as it embeds my connection to the artwork, offering insight into why themes of sea life are so important to me. My Great Grandma sings ‘When the Boat Comes in’, a Geordie folk song sung to me as a child, connecting the dots between my northeast background and deep-rooted obsession with the coast, as well as referencing generational gender roles for women. 

I exhibit two pieces of work in the degree show. ‘The Nymphaeum’ [sculpture of shell grotto], and ‘The Rockpool’, a tabletop made from natural stone showcasing the vast amount of shells I sculpted, on pins - as if seen in a museum Cabinet. The organisation part of the process was important to me and I wanted to emphasise a point made in the book ‘Femina’: ‘I am not rewriting history… I am shifting the focus. Pilgrim badges are artefacts that have been found, now I draw attention to the symbolism of the vulva and present this to a modern audience. I chose to exhibit this in a space by an arched window as its altar-like aesthetic brought me full circle to the initial purpose of creating a shrine that communicates that the feminine and nature are one. 

 

When researching curation and visiting several galleries, it was the spaces that displayed books, research, sketches and inspiration that interested me the most. This made me sure that I wanted to create a zine to have in conjunction with my work, that will offer a degree of context. Another motif I had explored earlier in my research was cloth- inspired by Artist Jane Jin Kaisen’s film piece: Halmang, exhibited at ESEA Contemporary, in which Jeju Sea Divers are seen ritualistically folding, unfolding and wrapping up Rocks in cloth- symbolic of birth, death, and the domestic. I felt that the gendered history that surrounded cloth made it a key material in my practice and I chose to exhibit it by printing my zine onto fabric. Alongside my artwork will be functional pilgrim badges for audience to take away and wear as a souvenir from the shrine.