Chalice Painting

A chalice is a sacred vessel, often used for ceremonial purposes. Here I have explored the idea of the a woman's body being a sacred vessel, created with the potential to hold and nurture new life. I have been exploring the attributes of male and female and how they complement each other. In this piece I seek to capture the physical strength that is required to nurture a new life, and the incredible sense of energy and wonder surrounding that life as it grows and develops. Chalice is a hand felted artwork. The body of the work has been built up using four layers of hand dyed New Zealand Merino wool. Surface detail is then added with silk fibres. Once the artwork is laid out, the piece is felted by hand - a delicate and controlled process. It is during the felting process that the layers of coloured fibre blend, to achieve the final colour and surface texture of the piece. The lower three-dimensional elements are created using a further four layers of wool fibre and these are seamlessly incorporated during the felting process. Artwork is mounted in an 80cm white tray frame Felted New Zealand Merino Wool and Silk Fibre Microseal coating for UV protection.