‘Penelope’, 2025, 84cm x 120cm
Thread, paper, acrylic paint, water, initiated dialogue

‘Penelope’s Shroud’, 2025, 2.5m x 168cm x 15cm
Muslin, Twine, Metal cup hooks, acrylic paint, water, thread, wire, stitching, breathe, water, flow, undoing, re doing , coffe stains, cold air, hot steam, pin pricked fingers, scrunching, plaiting, stretching, queezing, pulling, relasing, in mediation, winter sting, days that settle, deep mediation, wise penelope, clever penelope, beloved penelope, dear penelope, noble-minded penelope, fair penelope, lovely penelope, penelope the wife of noble odysseys, penelope the faithful wife, resourceful penelope, penelope with her heart full of sorrow.

Penelope and Penelope’s Shroud examine the portrayal of Penelope in The Odyssey, reclaiming her as a figure of emotional complexity, defiance, and endurance. Often reduced to patience and duty, she emerges here in raw intensity; rupture and resilience.

A raw, gestural painting inspired by Cy Twombly, ‘Penelope’ captures the character’s unseen turmoil. Stitched paper reflects both rupture and resilience, asserting her presence beyond passive devotion.

‘Penelope’s Shroud’ reinterprets weaving—Penelope’s act of defiance—as a gesture of reclamation. The fabric as testament to lived experience, drapery evokes both classical depictions and ‘women’s work’. Stitching, cutting, and tension speak to containment and self-definition.