I
talked at the Headingley LitFest about some of the female forms
in my work. My work has always been driven by my fascination for ritual and
mythologies from all over the world, because of my very mixed heritage and
travels.
I am currently interested in tales of the Seven
Seas. These are adventures, real and
otherwise, from medieval merchants and seamen from Europe and the Middle East.
They explored dangerous trade routes through often uncharted seas, and
documented miraculous and diabolical sights en route.
‘Pomegranates’ was inspired by various myths
concerning women, as recounted by lonely, long-distance sailors, and found in
places as far apart as Japan, China, Persia, and Europe.
The Island of Women is a mixture of legends, formed by
male lust and fear. These women would
either fight shipwrecked sailors, or mate with them till the exhausted seamen
died. In some cases women procreated by
looking at their own reflections, or by being impregnated by the west
wind. Sometimes the women lured sailors
with their beauty, only to become horrifically ugly once the men had been
caught and bound.
I’m interested in the power held by these women, and
the fertility often expressed in these stories.
My goddess/woman stands
alone and self contained with her symbols amidst lush vegetation. Her
transparency makes her at one with the vegetation. Stylized pomegranates
appear, based on old Turkish designs and signifying fertility.
