The MATRIARCH is an investigation into applying minimal narrative and scale to my art practice. During my BFA thesis exhibition in Santa Fe, New Mexico, this series was exhibited. The unexpected loss of the matriarchs of my family left me with overwhelming grief. An intrinsic part of my grief is realising that I have lost generations of matriarchal family folklore. As I now take up the mantle of the matriarch of my family, the mythology and rituals that would have accompanied this experience are sadly extinct, along with my family members.
The series comprises an immersive installation of three 5’ x 8’ x 2" ledger stones in the style of a cutout dress made from birch wood stained white. Composed as a triptych, the middle ledger stone is elevated and hung by a peg and hanger. Including Mortality, a sculpture of six plaster legs with high heel shoes stacked on a pedestal 3' x 2.5' x 2' replicating broken limbs as a metaphor for my matriarchs’ broken bodies, their mortality and my broken heart.
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This series is dedicated to; my mother, Letitia James Reid, 1938-2015, my stepmother Ann Elizabeth Wells, 1933-2015 and my mother in law, Joan Mary Timmins, 1926-2016.
Mortality, a sculpture of six plaster legs with high heel shoes stacked on a pedestal 3'L x 2.5'W x 2'H.
A triptych of 5’ x 8’ x 2" ledger stones in the style of a cutout dress made from birch wood stained white. Titled 1938-2015, 1933-2015 and 1926-2016.
A triptych of 5’ x 8’ x 2" ledger stones in the style of a cutout dress made from birch wood stained white. Titled 1938-2015, 1933-2015 and 1926-2016.
Mortality, a sculpture of six plaster legs with high heel shoes stacked on a pedestal 3'L x 2.5'W x 2'H.