Female Energy Rising

Begun as a contribution to a previous exhibition, 'Shiftwork', I have developed this piece to emphasise its feminine aspects. Coal mining was masculine work and created a dominant masculine society and culture. Subsequently, women's energy has been a primary source of community cohesion, working to rebuild civil society from the remains of the past, but using female skills to forge a different future. The vessel construction contains the idea of women as vessels for new birth, and as objects for holding the memories and relationships of families and society. Green embroidery represents female craft and the femininity of nature.