-Found objects and a porcelain clay sculpture- 2023
I decided to submit this piece to the Royal Academy summer exhibition with the theme ‘Explore taking up space”
This piece came about after making my first sleeping souls. An artist friend Elieen had found this bird’s nest in her garden, abandoned it, and offered it to me. I wasn’t sure what to do with it at first but I love that some bones were left from an animal. I then created a small person to sit inside the nest alongside the skeleton. I have been thinking for a while about grief and dying. Things that still feel a little taboo to talk about and can bring a lot of discomfort. I have always felt that it is important to sit with death and give space to it. The same with grieving, it feels such a powerful and deep emotion to grieve and we all grieve very differently… But death can be very beautiful for some and the different cultures that have rituals around how death and the dying are so different in contrast to how we experience it in the UK.
I felt like this represented the space grief takes up and the importance of giving space to grieve.
There was a series I watched that was based on a podcast with Caitlin Doughty hosted by Duncan Trussell Which stayed with me. It spoke primarily about dying and how we treat bodies after they had passed with some history behind it. But Caitlin mentions the importance of sitting with the body after someone has passed and how monumental this can be for some. The experiences they have had doing this have been beautiful. Sitting in the moment…