whilst still experimenting with print. I have also looked at symbols and what they mean. In some of my Images I have put my character Pope Joan within a circle. The circle has many meanings but I like to think of it as a symbol of protection a boundary guarding her true Identity, creating a sacred place.
During my research I have also been looking at ancient Frescos,and I am interested in how they fade away over time, leaving traces of history.
I have tried to create my own Fresco with board and plaster, layering my prints to resemble a similar effect. At this moment in time I feel its not working, and probally needs me to be a bit more patient.
Today I have been in the print room .I have been etching and monoprinting, generally experimenting with my images.
Pope Joan had an unusual life. As well as being an highly educated woman, she was an outsider in the Catholic church and took on the guise of a man to achieve her ambitions,until she gave birth to an illegitimate child.
The earlist christian saints were often martyrs who suffered agonising deaths because they refused to worship pagan gods, whereas other christian saints often performed charitable deeds or led isolated lives, taking themselves away from society to live as hermits.
As an example, during Maundy Thursday, the practice of foot washing would only have been practiced by the men, but Pope Joan in her disguise would have undertaken this practice. I have also considered The Holy Eucharist, the most important of the seven sacraments, in which we recieve the body and blood ,soul and divinity of Jesus Christ.
Within my work I have considered these rituals in my research into Pope Joan. For example, my shoes and a Pope’s mitre have been crafted out of wire and rice paper, this rice paper reflecting its use in Holy Communion. As Pope Joan was a woman, I have also made a hat using the same media in the shape of a female pelvis, the rice paper again symbolic of the flesh of Christ. Within this I have also sought to portray the flesh of her child.
Whilst doing some research, I have looked at Saints Alive by Michael Landy. His exhibition consists of seven sculptures.They are made from images and details from the National Gallery to which he has combined with recycled machinery,broken toys and various junk.
My project was inspired by a play written by caryl churchill, titled Top girls. The play is a about a career driven woman during the eighties,who goes on to have some sucess and celebrates by throwing a dinner party to which she invites Interesting women of history. Various women are depicted in the story, however I am to focus on pope joan who was a legendry female pope. In brief, the legend tells of this woman having diguised herself as a man and progressing to rise through the ranks of the church, until it is discovered that she is concealing a pregnancy, and whilst out riding her horse in a easter parade she falls from her horse resulting in her to give birth, to which both her and her child are stoned to death by a angry mob.
The story has been believed for many years, and scholars and modern religions concidered it fictitious, perhaps deriving from historical folklaw.
Much of my work is about gender and identity. It occured to me as a result of my investigations into this woman that I had not yet represented a woman taking on the guise of a man. Some of my research so far has delved into folklaw and religious rituals.
