Magna Carta Women
Magna Carta Women, 4- piece collage
Mixed media, 2015
Magna Carta Women captures the journey of British women over the last 800 years since the signing of the Magna Carta. The 4-piece panel highlighted some of the notable women and men that have had an influence on British women and their long and arduous journey towards individual rights and freedoms. The theatrical collage was inspired by stained glass windows, the main visual art form of the Magna Carta era. Eve, reaching for an apple, stands next to King John signing the Magna Carta, which becomes the central pathway in the Garden of Eden. It features Mary Wollstonecraft (A Vindication of the Rights of Women), Emily Pankhurst (political activist and leader of the British suffrage movement), Heizi Mirza (Professor studying educational inequalities for Black and Asian females), John Stuart Mill (The Subjection of Women), George Lansbury (led the campaign for women's rights in parliament) and Edith Lanchester (protester against anti-women marriage laws), who all championed women's rights.
The 50 women and men include: Marie de France, Nicolaa de la Haye, Julian of Norwich, Margery Kempe, Catherine of Aragon, Christian de Pizan, Anne Askew, Jane Anger, Rachel Speight, Margaret Fell, Bathsua makin, Margaret Cavendish, Mary Astell, Janet Horne, Mary Wollstonecraft, Elizabeth Fry, Hannah Moore, the Ladies of Llangollen, Harriet Martineau, Mary Files, John Stuart Mill, Lydia Becker, Caroline Norton, Emily Faithfull, Elizabeth Garrett Anderson, Helen Priscilla Rabagliati, Millicent Fawcett, Emmeline Pankhurst, Caroline Haslett, George Lansbury, Laurence Housman, Ada Nield Chew, Lady Constance Bulwer-Lytton, Edith Lanchester, Emily Davison, Lilian Bland, Nancy Astor, Marie Stopes, Helena Normanton, Dorothy Hodgkin, Barbara Castle, Jill Sheila Tweedie, Angela Carter, Ann Oakley, Angela McRobbie, Heidi Mirza, Natasha Walter and Laura Bates.
Collections
A World of Tales
Mixed media, 2013- 2015
The five piece collection explores the portrayal of women in fairytales.
The Secret Ball is based on the story of Cinderella, revealing the silly and outlandish behaviour of upper class women from the Regency era.
The Manacled Mannequins is based on the tale of the Twelve Dancing Princesses, a story that isn't so well known, but looks at 12 daughters that secretly escape every night to dance. They are eventually discovered by an old soldier and the eldest daughter is made to marry him. In my version the daughters are trapped as dolls in a never-ending wheel. They have the freedom to dance but are still trapped by the men in the story.
Trapped derives from the story of Rapunzel. In this image the young girl symbolises a bird trapped in a cage.
An Eternal Dream is based on the tale of Sleeping Beauty with the young woman asleep in the Garden of Eden.
Sorrow pictures the story of The Snow Maiden, enclosed in a snow dome yearning to be with others.
The collection plans to grow in the future exploring Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White and Goldilocks.
Purchase from Artfinder
The five piece collection is a limited edition of 7 and prints are available to purchase from Artfinder.
Collections
Agatha, a life of ladders and snakes
Mixed media, 2010- 2013
The 12-piece collection retells the life story of the famous crime writer including the continuous nightmares of a gunman, her early years with imaginary friends and a crash resulting in a loss of memory. The collages captures these moments in time, incorporating both the ups and downs of Agatha's life, revolving around a variety of stairs.
The chronological images combine photography, found objects, print and mark making. Models were photographed and costumes, props and scenes were digitally created using an array of materials.
Agatha, a life of ladders and snakes has exhibited at various venues ranging from the famous Art Deco hotel at Burgh Island, the Empire State Building Building, Agatha's home in Greenway and may solo and group exhibitions and international Art Fairs.
Purchase from Artfinder
The 12-piece collection is a limited edition of 20 with the larger piece Daydreamer as an edition of 7. All prints are available to buy from Artfinder.
Collections
Other Collections
Working the Red Carpet is an historic depiction of the kings and queens of England within a contemporary setting from Alfred the Great to Elizabeth II. The artwork looks at the voyeuristic obsession with celebrity culture, exploring the relationship between the celebrity and the fan as well as revealing the historic relationship between the monarchs.
The work took six months to create by researching the history of each monarch, referencing art and costumes from each era, photographing individual people and animals and carefully adding piece-by-piece textiles, illustrations, jewellery, print, feathers, shoes, buttons, armour, swords and crowns to create the costumes. In the scene bodyguards try to keep the contemporary crowd at bay and the Kings and Queens from killing each other. Working the Red Carpet gathers the English monarchs together in one room and reimagines how they and the contemporary audience would react and how they would get along with each other.
The Golden Palace explores the seven deadly sins of the medieval church, focusing on greed. The Palace is covered in gold, jewels, keys and other ornate objects, questioning the necessities of these luxurious objects for the institution and worship.
A Sense of Place explores child evacuees during World War II, reflecting on their adopted homes.
A Ticket to Devon is a series of nostalgic travel posters which captures the spirit of excursion in the early 20th century. The vintage inspired travel posters depict travellers from the Edwardian era to the 1930’s, taking a stroll around the picturesque towns of South Devon.
The Courtlife of Marie Antoinette is a six-piece collection, depicts the life of the last Queen of France from her time as the focal point to the yearning to be away from the limelight.
Purchase from Artfinder
The other collections and individual pieces are available to buy from Artfinder.
Merchandise
Prints and merchandise
A Melange of Mermaids collection of prints is taken from the illustrative book A Mermaid's Melody, which retells the poetic story of a mermaid befriending an oyster. Illustrations from the book have also been adapted as prints, mirrors and greeting cards and available to purchase on my Etsy store.
Other illustrations have been created for greeting cards, cushions, pocket mirrors, prints, notebooks and bags.