Ceramic, Steel Wire, Stainless Steel.  handcrafted hollow stoneware beads decorated with coloured clay slip.

I began creating this piece in early 2018 over a three month intensive making time.  It started with a desire to create just one of the big fan shaped beads and I liked it so much I thought I’d make a few more.  I had no idea this piece would become so large and powerful but I am so glad it did.

There is a certain amount of conscious planning that happens when beginning a project and then there is the creative undercurrent that pulls you under and takes you for the ride. After a time you pop your head up and say, ‘Well what’s this? Where did this come from? I wonder what story this piece has come to tell?  During this time, news of Donald Trump was freaking me out, it felt like I was surrounded by (still feel) persecution stories of women and I was processing how I felt within the bigger picture.  It’s an incredible time of transition for humanity, hugely confronting, scary but also empowering.

When looking at this piece now, I think of the women that have empowered me throughout my life and of the women who over the eons lived so powerfully that their stories still resonate with us.
‘She Is Regal’ is an ode to these women and to all of us continuing on the journey.

Photos by Samuel Hartnett