I GO TO THE DEPTH OF THE OCEAN WITHIN THE BODY OF A WOMAN . 2023

This room divider reflects on women’s health, bodily visibility, and justice through steel, textile, light, and symbolic form.

Standing 2.1 metres tall and 1.1 metres wide, the work is made from stainless steel with a zinc passivation treatment, giving its surface a shifting golden, iridescent finish. Its curved structure holds a series of oval panels, each carrying fragments of a bodily language.

Some panels are laser cut with goddess forms, moons, flowers, internal organs, the Rod of Asclepius, and scales of justice. As light passes through these openings, the imagery moves beyond the object itself, casting delicate shadows across the surrounding space. Other panels are woven with Burel wool offcuts, forming soft bioforms that suggest organs, tissue, pain, and repair. Held with pearl headed pins, these tactile forms bring warmth and vulnerability into contrast with the steel.

Room dividers have long acted as objects of threshold, privacy, and storytelling. In this work, that history becomes intimate and political. The divider is both screen and body, shaped by my own experience of endometriosis and by research into medical bias, pain, and the historical dismissal of gynaecological conditions.

The work holds space for conversation, recognition, and repair. Since being exhibited, it has prompted emotional exchanges with women who recognised their own stories within it. The piece has become a vessel for memory, resilience, and the need to be seen, believed, and cared for.