Memoria Project
I was selected, as one of 4 artists, by Feminist Fusion in Plymouth to make art work, with regard to the Mayflower 400 Commemoration and the effect of colonisation, especially on women.
The quest of the Pilgrim Fathers, driven by religious persecution, was to set up a colony of their own in the Eastern seaboard of North America. Although saved from starvation and supported by the Wampanoag people, this was not to be a lasting friendship.
In a speech given in 1970 by Frank James, the Wampanoag leader said “After 50 years of the landing of The Mayflower the Wampanoag people would no longer be free.”
When I began my research, I had an overwhelming feeling of a sense loss. The loss that women felt when their men were killed in battles over territory or lost to slavery. The men who had been their protectors, had hunted and provided food and shelter for them and their children. Leaving the women to fend for themselves. My intention was to reflect the ’Hidden Story’ in my work. The symbolic eagle feather, a solitary figure, reflections of a memory, an empty landscape etc.
I developed my paintings, from sketches and photographs I had taken in Canada, which I felt was a fitting and authentic source material in respect of the similarity of the landscape. This gave me a sense of freedom and allowed me to paint images that came to mind in their making. With a deadline of only two and half weeks to produce some artwork, I felt compelled and motivated to make images that were mindful and captured a sense of feeling.