The work offers nuanced observations of our immediate environment, and examines how we communicate and respond within those spaces we inhabit. These concerns are often social, political, and ecological, all observed from a female perspective.
There is no imitation or direct reference. The response is more subtle, personal, intimate, evoking a sensuality and eroticism and one which is often ritualistic.  

Current and Upcoming

Royal Society of Sculpture Summer Show 2024

The exhibition will be held at Dora House from 22 July- 21 September 2024.

Dora House, 108 Old Brompton Road, London SW7 3RA

Thank you David Mcalmont, this years curator for the RSS Summer Show, Kensington, London, for selecting my work, ‘Something Chimera’. I am delighted to have this opportunity to show one of several newly developed hand modelled  smaller scale works.
Something Chimera is a direct response to the given RSS 2024 exhibition title Reality Check and is an exploration of an enigmatic figure from Ancient Mythology. The Chimera is indeed complex, fantastical, unattainable – something not real and which leads to a more complex consideration. It attempts to question what we present as real and what constitutes what is real, and how, psychologically, we have so many different personas at our disposal. For example, how we behave in a familial context, how we are in a social context, a sexual context, a work context. We have the capacity to be different things to different people and therefore we are never completely sure of ourselves and of that self that we are presenting. We are never sure when we meet new people what facet of themselves, we are meeting. A multifaceted human representation of self that it is almost impossible to quantify. If we are searching for certainty, then we must question why we behave the way we do in certain contexts.
This leads to a consideration of conditioning: socialization, our capacity to change, our resistance to change, our education and often, specifically in our formative years, we are imbued with a fear of failure, a fear of getting things wrong, which is indeed crucial to getting things right. It is a crucial part of our development, acquiring curiosity, exploration, rebelliousness. All fundamental facets of what makes us human, simply by not being prepared to be wrong.
If we look at the Chimera as an object, it is indeed fantastical, but also representational of the multifaceted potential of being human within the imagination and in reality. The Chimera has the power to evoke fear: fear of the unknown, fear of a higher order, in a similar way to a religious icon, with its many layers, including the repression of independent thought, of creativity or expressing our sexuality. A gender strand comes into play, the chimera, often portrayed as female becomes confrontational for example, certainly within a phallocratic society – how we are ‘allowed’ to present ourselves in society, how we are conditioned to behave in certain ways, and if we deviate from the ‘accepted’ or the ‘norm’, it is often scorned or ridiculed. One could suggest that fear has been used by both the church, and by the ruling classes, and agents of social oppression be it physical or psychological, and it is the fear of stepping out of line, or getting it wrong, the fear of exceeding one’s position, or standing up in protest. Fear, in a way underpins many social structures which are reliant on coercion and fear is the major enemy of change. This raises the question: How else does one get oppressed people to vote for the oppressor. A mystery indeed. One could say it’s a kind of Chimera. Presented as real, with a power to intimidate.

A Chimera - an amalgamation of bodily parts, creating fantastical, otherworldly creatures that are presented as factual and believed to be real. Historically, displayed in museums or in prominent public places, the Chimera, a word which stems from archaeological artifacts, fashioned by human hands, and embroidered within many cultures, including Egyptian, Greek, Indian and Roman mythologies. These creatures display human heads, animal torsos, and often bird or insect wings and were revered as demons, gods or goddesses which were deemed a source of power: a presiding fear over individuals and even whole societies.
The intention was to create a piece which is real, exists, displays human qualities but has the potential to change. Ostensibly a metaphor, the Chimera stems from a line of tradition and mythology. I have chosen to represent this metaphor in a sculptural context, One of a series, made from wax which, as a material itself, has inherent qualities to change in different environments.

Recent :
Bells of Lapua: An interactive large scale sculptural works based on the lives of female factory workers in the 1970's in Lapua, Finland who lost their lives in the largest industrial accident in Finland's history. 
Roots: Video Installation - based on the extraordinary life of Jeanne Barret, the first woman to (unwittingly) circumnavigate the globe.
I am Seeping: a large scale sculptural, interactive and site specific work which explores themes from global extraction, exploitation and pollution of raw materials, to the minutia examining degeneration, demineralization, of our very being.
Beneath our Feet: an interactive large scale, site specific sculptural work, suitable for parks, gardens and woodland which explores and examines the often unseen world beneath our feet, again examining areas including decay, fragility and transience.

Time to Celebrate

It was a pleasure and honour to have been selected with our proposal Le Remuage, a collaborative work which isa celebration of the achievements of Madam Babette Clicquot who revolutionised the manufacturing process of Champagne. Le Remuage is now installed in the garden at Domaine Champagne Gosset, Epernay, France.

Le Reumage 2023 @Champagne Gosset, Epernay, France 
Photo credit: Fiona Paterson

New Work

The Ecstatic Cow - unfired clay, wax, feathers
We generally live by sets of rules which define our societies - those to live and be governed by. These ‘rules’ are not true for every human or society and are open to interpretation, change and to be adapted - regardless if we agree or not with the rules in different societies, these form our known civilisations.  My currently body of work is concerned with the welfare of a group of women - numbers vary but it is in the region of around 200,000.00 women and children who are living in abhorrent conditions currently in legal brothels in Bangladesh.  In one of only a handful of countries where prostitution is legal and brothals are regulated, intercourse with a girl ( under 18) is punishable with 10 years imprisonment, however it is common place for young women and girls to take Oradexon, a cattle steroid fed routinely to cattle to fatten them - taken orally or intravenously, a panacea to promote curvaceous form, this drug enhances their figure, making them appear older than their years ….. fattened like oxen, for sex…….
The title - The Ecstatic Cow, and other Embroidered Stories is taken from works produced by Stella Snead during her time in India. A U.K. Surealist painter, her title was the catalyst for this body of disturbing works which highlight the horrors, rapes, violent physical and verbal abuse faced daily by young women and children who are often bonded or sold, trafficked or born into prostitution in Bangladesh’s legal brothel's.
Kandapara - The Crying Quarter translates directly as the name of one of these districts, and was established as a brothel in 1860 and formally legalised in 2000, located on the banks of the river Jamuna, is home to thousands of women and children and is one of few legalised brothel's worldwide. I resided in Dhaka for some years in the 1980s where I was fortunate to work alongside many women in both the capital and rural communities across the country. Many of these women had suffered great loss and abuse during the partition in 1976. Displacement, religious segregation, torture, rape, murder were common place and thousands were subjected to a life of destitution, bereft of male family members and ostracised by their neighbours, for many of these women, sex work was then and still is, often the only option, Many sold and bonded or trafficked by their own relatives.
The textile industry was in its infancy at that time, women relied on field work, Khanta stitching and sex work as legitimate forms of employment. Very little has changed for thousands of young women. This new body of work, highlights the prolific use of Oradexon, underpinned by recent evidence and findings conducted by WHO and UNICEF, and a paper produced in May 2020 on behalf of CARE International by Wasfia Nazreen, examines the current lives and serious health risks, from AIDS, Hepatitis, sexually transmitted diseases, cholera, trafficking to and from Bangladesh, and continued violence, not least the addiction to heroin, and Oradexon, a drug which is used predominantly in the farming industry to fatten cattle, which, taken both orally and intravenously enhancing their body shape, and is a particularly attractive choice of drug (or forced) to very young girls who become more curvaceous and therefore more appealing to men.  It is my intention to raise concerns, and to question morality, abuse of children, women and workers  rights. My work, comprising of drawings, clay and wax workings, textiles, often referencing chimera like figures, an amalgamation of cow, human and bird, resembling goddesses found in many religions, depicting a cow, a woman, a bird…… seen as a bringer of wealth, fertility and joy……  The women and girls give themselves exotic names, citing birds, butterflies or flowers, all fed Oxadexon, along with other potent cocktails known colloquially as Zhaka Naka, combine cough mixtures, fruit juices, heroin and sleeping pills. 
A set of rules for some are not necessarily the same set of rules for others. Sexual desire, it seems, legitimises sexual abuse.  The irony is not lost….. 
The Ecstatic Cow - unfired clay, wax, fabric, feathers

Residency

2023 - Lapua, Finland - Vanha Paukku, an art and culture center located in the town center. 

Bells of Lapua

The large scale installation is a celebration of those people, mainly women who lost their lives in Finland's largest Industrial disaster in 1976 in the Lapuan Cartridge Factory. The image of a bell, each one having its own ‘voice’ seemed a particularly fitting symbol, one which will chime and resonate with joy and one in which the public can interact to produce a melodic sound in the museum.
The installation: 41 individual ceramic bells, each suspended individually within a framework. Each bell made by hand in clay, the clay body representing every person who lost their life. Each bell has its own distinct sound and shape and each varies in size. A wooden 3d display framework acts as both a structure in which to support the bells and as a window enabling light to shine through the structure will be constructed to facilitate the housing of the bells. 
There are several reasons for choosing the bell as a symbol and object, its shape, its name, its sound. It is also an object which can be constructed from clay. Clay has inherent characteristics which can be soft, malleable, hard, dense, hollow, liquid, or solid. It is a body, a material from the earth and one which can be returned to the earth which is indeed poignant.
There is a natural relationship between humans and clay and the physical qualities of this material felt like an appropriate choice for this installation. Additionally, it displays characteristics akin to metal. It can be melted, formed, shaped, and worked, a liquid upon heating, becoming ridged and has the potential to fracture upon cooling. A slug pellet (a term used in the United Kingdom for a type of bullet) bears resemblance to a classic bell shape, additionally, the clapper on a bell (the smaller object which is used to make the sound against the body wall of the bell), is shaped like a shot gun pellet, the cord to assemble is symbolic itself, the thread, connecting and igniting. Each bell will be hung using a chain and attached to the wooden framework.
Interestingly, as part of my research into the Lapua Cartridge Factory disaster, I made several discoveries. Firstly, that Finland is home to the world’s largest (private) collection of bells which can be observed near Pyhajarvi, in a place called Vaskikello Ravintola, 200km from Lapua. The collection is owned by a businessman, Paavo Ronko who houses over two thousand bells in his collection, many rare and valuable bells are to be found here. Secondly, a visit to Kunsthalle Seinajoki, an arts exhibition and cultural center in Seinajoki located a few kilometers from Lapua, where I had the pleasure to view a sound and photographic exhibition by the artist/musician, Pia Siirala. Her PhD research work into the musical heritage of the indigenous people of Northeast Siberia I found deeply moving. Piia explores the ancient musical tradition of the ‘Personal Song’ whereby “singing personifies an individual and invites their spirits to be present”. Pia Siirala explains that traditionally, these songs were ascribed at birth as a “gift”, along with their name and later, the song would arise spontaneously when a person is alone with their thoughts. These songs change constantly but remain inherently at the core of the individual’s soul.
The bell, an object which generates sound has its own voice and individual characteristics and therefore seems like a very fitting and appropriate symbol to celebrate the lives of these individuals. A fitting metaphor indeed.
The final bell will be a homage to my grandmother, Rhoda Busby, who also worked as a chain maker in a Munitions factory in Sheffield, UK. She was one of the thousands of women, known collectively as the Canary Girls during WW2. Named because of the yellowing TNT (Sulphur compounds) which permeated the atmosphere in these factories, coating their hair, skin and clothing resembling a yellow Canary bird. Therefore, each bell sings like a bird, melodic and joyous in celebration of these women and men. In the UK, as well as many other languages, including French, where I currently reside, and Italian, where my grandfather was held as a prisoner of war during WW2, the word bell (e) means beauty and is often associated with the feminine. The Lapuan disaster saw the loss of 35 women. The bell therefore for me is the perfect symbol for this installation.
Bells of Lapua 2023

Selected Works 

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