Drawing on my Irish heritage and the Sheela na-gig, a medieval carving of a female figure found at the entrances of sacred buildings, A Thousand Different Women, reclaims the void as a place of wild, unapologetic feminine power. The Sheela na-gig, with her exposed vulva and steady gaze, embodies the untamed, erotic, and sometimes uncomfortable sides of the feminine. She acts as a portal, inviting us to honour our shadows and reclaim what has been hidden or shamed.

This vessel is part of a series exploring liminality and the transformative power of fire. It was fired using primitive saggar and barrel techniques, and its visceral surface patina was created through the burning of deeply personal materials, menstrual blood, hair, nails, and organic matter. These materials speak to cycles of decay, renewal, and the sacredness of what’s often taboo or cast aside.

Here, the void is not emptiness or lack, but a threshold full of potential, mystery, and becoming and the surface is evocative of the scars and experiences that shape and make us.

The piece is sculpted inn stoneware ceramic and burnished with terra sigillata. For the final firing, it is enclosed in a saggar with natural materials and placed in a barrel kiln. This raw, alchemical process allows smoke, fire, and organic matter to imprint the surface, leaving behind visceral, unpredictable markings.