Art Talks programme: Katrina Wilde

 Had a great visiting artist talk today from Katrina Wilde. Part of the Art Talks programme that Kite and I are curating with Anna Francis.  Her practice is beautiful, she investigates through process and takes time to consider and listen. I feel that it's a slow practice in the way that art should be.  She's also refreshingly transparent when talking about money and making a living.

I was interested to know more about how matrilineal influences shaped her practice. In my investigations into the archetype of the witch, it's been suggested several times that it might be better to lean into the way the paint translates and away from the actual "witches hat" in favour of examining the female experience.

I feel the witch is my anchor point and to move away from this, changes the context of my work.  Katina encouraged me to keep asking why.. in order to fully understand the context myself, and recommended a book by Clarissa Pinkola Estes : Women who run with the wolves. - a collection of stories and folk tales in which the witch or healer is referenced.

The one word (along with the reference to Matrlineal ..as I'd chosen matriarch as the title for my project) was care. This ties everything together. Care requires time, consideration, attention, it gives something of yourself to create something positive.  It pulls together the considerations that I have had throughout my practice around caring for family, the environment and tasks and rituals connected to the home.

So why don't I want to focus on the female experience as portrayed in the media ?

Because I want to reference something historical that perpetuates today. Responding to a current issue without the relevant contextual background changes what I'm looking at.

Why do I focus on the witch?

Because she's a character thats been created to control women and that character has been adopted by capitalism to separate historical women and modern women.. they can't possibly be the same can they?

Why the witches hat?

It's literally your hat... (patriarchy) ...what would happen if I did take it from you and do with it what women wanted, to restablish a female community, to acknowledge that its not a fancy dress prop, to use it as a tool to show that women then are the same as women now and the attitude towards us is still the same. 

Also, in separating the witch from the modern women, capitalism has done an incredible job of only assigning a witches hat to a female.. yet there were children, and men and non binary people accused of witchcraft. It was a tool for control. 

So do I look at the witches hat as a tool?

I talked about the connection with nature and ritual that industry was enthusiastic to stamp out in order to mechanise production and secure labour and the way that language had changed .

I referenced dandelions..as a kid you couldn't touch a dandelion or you'd wet the bed. My son didn't know this - he has a different experience of them. If I speak to my parents they have loads more childhood games that reference nature - but we're losing our connection - with nature and how we spend our time. Incidentally, dandelions are diuretics ... so there's something in that.

Katrina talked about the relationship that she had with her grandmother in her Art talk. Her grandmother is a healer and shares lots of her matrilineal knowledge with the grandmother of one of Katrinas friends who recognises herself as a witch. 

Gossip - a gathering of women - became a toxic meaningless female gathering (idle chatter) which needed to be stamped out. It began as meaningful communication between women. Women had a community of support, which through christianity was eroded away. Newly wed females were encouraged to distance from family and friends (much like in an abusive relationship where a person is ostracised from support) .

Glamour also changed its meaning from magic to one of beauty -connected to the cosmetics industry. - If you were a beautiful woman, you might be considered useful but then it could also be considered that you'd bewitched someone and that they then acted out of character...

I referenced a book that records the witch trials - the questioning reads like gas lighting. its ridiculous but  relentless, tying the person in knots -almost childish - but with deadly consequences.  This book can be reproduced - the publisher encourages it.  I need to explore this.

Katrina mentioned that my practice could deviate from painting - I could explore conversation, and use the word Gossip. I could document conversations. maybe I could mix these with the witch trial records?

What conversation could I have?

  

Katrina also suggested connecting with modern witches. I'd said that witches aren't a historical thing - there are references in Silvia Federicis work about modern beliefs re witches - but the stigma that goes with these belief systems belonging with "under-developed|" countries .. a topic that Ronald Hutton picks up on in his work.  There are connections to colonialism and the infiltration of western beliefs into other countries belief systems, but essentially, the fear of the witch is still very real across the world and the consequences, in how its shaped our social behaviour are felt by women and non binary people now.

Boy killed as parents thought he was a witch London 2012 

10 year old girl abused in London, believed to be a witch 2005

Victoria Climbie Death in 2000

Hope 2016 - child abandoned because parents believed he was a witch 

Katrina recommended the witch on BBC sounds, so i'll give that a listen, and she suggested (as I mentioned that I stretch canvases because I appreciate the cotton substrate more for its natural properties) that I could commission a hand woven canvas by a spinner/weaver (a female craft related to spinsters/witches) 

I could connect with herbalists - what does it mean to be a witch now?  I'd avoided this because when you say witch, often the reaction is in reference to pagan products and purple robes, dragon ornaments and pre assembled spells. 

Painting from plants - I've considered Eves herbs before and touched on the nature reference after speaking with Anna Francis in level 6 when I painted the apples. It feels like the right direction but I'm just not an avid still life painter... I lean more to figurative or portraiture..or conversation. 

I have some ideas to explore!