grace (2017/18)

Beaten steel, silk, latex, beeswax, linen thread, lead fishing sinkers
300cm x 300cm x 300cm

Grace investigates aspects of religious ritual. It references the “dome of heaven” of early Christianity, replicating a dome’s shape from an era when it was believed the earth had a firmament holding the heavens. The artwork plays with the idea of sacred space; in particular, a place in which to make wishes or prayers. Eighteen disembodied pairs of wings made of beaten steel, silk and wax, form the structure, with red linen threads hanging down to the ground, lightly weighted by lead sinkers. The wings are an abstraction of, and reference to doves depicted in the decoration of many medieval domes. The material of steel symbolises the challenging physical and psychological work of realising dreams. The wings form both an arc above the gallery visitor, and a maze of red threads. (The weight of the sinkers varies, assisting the wings in their flying motion.) Each set of wings can be induced to fly by pulling its hanging thread. Through visitors activating the wings, a ritual action is suggested, like the turning of a prayer wheel, a gesture towards manifesting a hope.

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