The series Releasing the Feminine, was born out of the residency I had the privilege to undertake at the Pugin chapel, in St Leonards, in 2019.  

 The chapel was occupied by an order of nuns, lead by Cornelia Connelly, a remarkable woman who is about to be made a saint. I spent many hours throughout the winter, spring and summer just sitting on a pew, waiting for history to speak to me.  The building had been unoccupied since the 1970s, and in places was in need of serious remedial work, but the majority of the building was in a remarkably good state, with many of the religious artefacts still in place.  At times it was bitterly cold, with the stagnant air affecting my skin and my breathing.

 Releasing the Feminine is a series of 17 abstract watercolour paintings on paper, honouring the essence of the chapel community and the building.  Painted intuitively in my studio, the works focus on themes of sanctuary, decay, suffering and ghosts.