“Born of fire? I certainly am. I see it in the stars, in my rage, in my passion, and in my art reflecting and flickering back at me. I no longer deny the feminine in me that desires to sew; to embroider, stitch by stitch, the fabric of the unseen underneath and the topside showy Self. The silver dagger of my needle penetrates, as it is also threaded. This process melts duality. This process unites me with my ancestors. This process reveals myself to me. The stab of the needle, the slender, silvery point directing energy to create form which pleases. No longer a pastime of the ‘incompetent’, the ‘incomplete’ female. Instead, an empowered act of legitimate creation. The divine feminine emerges in unashamedly tough, silken bands and spools of yarn. Yarn to harness, yarn to spin the tale, and to carry on the story.
The fire circle embroidery is inspired by a gathering in the Sussex woodland on the full moon of 6th September 2017. The masculine fire we sat around gazing into, while the feminine, deep well - the reason for choosing the location of the gathering - silently ebbed in the darkness... that is, until someone noticed the full moon shining in its reflection! At this point, we all moved around the well and watched the moon - itself a reflection of the sun. The two can never be apart. I dreamt of this embroidery even as I was sitting in that sacred circle. I imagined the bird’s eye view and felt the natural yin/yang shape which was being formed energetically. It had already created itself before it came to be.
I was wedded to the Universe in a ceremony of divine inclination. This psychological journey with the beyond served as the healing catalyst to reach a state of self-acceptance. Summon the unseen forces, and they will answer. Call upon your ancestors, and they will be with you. The ceremony took place in Panama amidst the presence of cows, spiders, and snakes. The choice to invigorate and empower the Will elevated this performance artwork into something tangible, visceral, and enduring.”