Currently working on a new project organised by Alicia Pivario, inviting local artists to produce works relating to great women from Highgate. Lovely to be involved in a local project that celebrates pioneering women.
I have chosen Mary Henrietta Kingsley, an explorer who broke the boundaries of what was expected of women of her time. Contemptuous of Europe's 'civilising mission' in Africa, Mary Kingsley's (1862-1900) extraordinary journeys through tropical west Africa are a remarkable record, both of a world which has vanished and of a writer and explorer of immense bravery, wit and humanity. Paddling through mangrove swamps, fending off crocodiles, climbing Mount Cameroon, Kingsley is both admirable and funny.
I am excited to be using glass, a medium I am really familiar with and am firing my individual pieces this week. Updates to follow!