Category: Art
Helen Gorrill wrote to me at the start of the year to ask if I could donate a *confession* for her final degree show project Benedict ReBound, which included a giant quilt.
This was the original request I received:
The huge Confessional Quilt, made up of 160 squares of a ball-gagged Pope Benedict. This is a statement against the pope ignoring Jesus's female friends in his new book for children. Each square represents a named female in the bible and will contain a visible 'confession' from myself/my peer group, and also an invisible hidden and sealed 'confession' from key people who have inspired my work. The confession will be sealed and sewn into the back of one of the squares of the quilt (I can send an envelope with SAE to your address if you would prefer not to reply by email). Please note your confession will never be read and it can be simple and not incriminating.
Of course, I sent her my confession… and I'm not saying what it was. Helen Gorrill then used screen printing, digital printing, CAD embroidery, laser cutting and stitching to put together all her confessions into what has become a far larger installation piece.
I have used repeated images of a ball-gagged Benedict together with CAD embroidery to name and commemorate each and every biblical female. The commemoration has been formed into a Confession Chamber, to record the link of 'sin' with women and some of the Bible's more misogynous passages. The Confession Chamber is an interactive installation and all viewers are invited to make their own confessions and leave them hidden or revealed within the chamber. My wish is to inspire people to look more closely at feminist issues inherent within the Bible and Christianity itself.
The project will be on show at the Degree Art in Vyner Street from tomorrow. DEICIDE is the culmination of four years' research into feminism and theology…
This is what the Guardian has to say: The drawings for Gorrill's degree show, which reverse the female submissiveness advocated by a religious pamphlet posted through her door, put women in a dominant position, while the men are bent and bound in sexual submission… Ms Gorrill makes a valid point.
Helen Gorrill's DEICIDE opens with a private view on Thursday 3rd November between 6-9pm. Degree Art is open from Weds-Sun 12-6pm, and Mon/Tues by appointment.