It seems deplorable that religion and spirituality may only be invented, yet it plays a key issue within the relationships of different cultures and the situations that take place which are religiously oriented. Many cases have shown how implications of war have been triggered by the simple misunderstanding of cultural beliefs.

The idea of an immortal life plays a key role within the envelope of being spiritual, and its within this notion that I want to explore and expand my current understanding on the idea of life after death.

It seems within the present day death in the western civilisation has morbid association’s and processes of sadness, death is a sad situation but its one that is guaranteed to happen to everyone has long as science doesn't intervene.

Carl Jung believed that there is a collective unconscious and deep within the psyche beyond the many different thoughts relating to sexual and biographical components, there can be found mythic archetypes that provide visionary and religious experiences, all of which can be expressed in dreams and mystic visions, and also in the acts of creativity.

With an overall concept the individual will see the meaning of religion in their own context whether followers or just merely through curiosity, and its within this notion that i express the creativity within my own art pratice, as no one can really say there is life after death, they can only believe there is.

After the tutorial it came about the endeavor of the pieces is essential within my work, as it is the aesthetics that hold particular interest to myself, it is also about the representation of previous life and the detail informing a life. Certain aspects of the previous work seems not to be holding the quality that is wanted, it is also not speaking directly as a representation of to the viewer. Audience association and participation is also crucial to the interaction of the pieces, finding away to clearly navigate the viewer to take part is also a critical area of getting the piece to work.

Research within the area of Death of the physical body after dying and the burial has shown a range of processes since the bronze age evidence shows how artifacts of weapons, jeweler and personal objects as well as offerings where placed within the burial setting,. These findings offer an insight into the methods of Neolithic times although it is unknown what this objects were for although speculation suggests that they were offerings for the gods of the afterlife or for the needs of the spirit body of the dead person. Many ideas and theories have been suggested on the attributes of religious suggestion of beliefs. A kiss on the mouth of a dead person allows the soul to move freely out of the body and become free. The flesh of the body was also cut away for the helping of the soul to forward the soul into the next life. Neolithic burials consisted of building mounds of families or whole settlements, depending on location burials also took place in cave tombs.

The people for whom kinship is a positive resource regarding the dead, see them as continuing to exist in some way. The fleshed corpse is associated with the world of the living and it’s continuation in that state is seen as polluting. The process of defleshing not only releases the spirit of the individual but the dry bones are conceptually cleaned.

The gifts bring into effect and also then reflect changes in the status of individual women in relation to one another and the wider society.
In 4000bc offerings of gifts and were placed within the sites as well as a tradition of covering the dead body with red ochre. Within this period the red ochre had associations of being ‘life blood’.

Artist research has also been investigated with the artists, Dr Jennifer Harris who is the deputy curator of textiles at the Whitworth art gallery Manchester and who has published widely on textile history surrounding contemporary textiles, also talking particularly on the work of Michele Walker. Pennina Barnett is a critic and lead curator of the textures of memory. The poetics of cloth she has also worked with Pamela Johnson on the under construction exhibition, and the subversive stitch exhibition displayed at the Corner house in Manchester between the years of 1987-1989.

Through the research of the christening gown, it has made me realise that I should base the making on the procedures and dedication that would be put in to it if I were making them for my own.

As the endeavor is as important as the viewer recognizing that the piece is lovingly made, and reflects quality, although the quality of the fabric may represent a range of different class among the classes of society. This is as I come from a lower middle class family, and want to reflect hardships as much as wealthier times. The pieces will also have a greater

Till death do us part? A brilliant title for the wedding dress osmosis piece, the wedding dress is to reflect the present times as it is here and now although it will be a timeless piece, but one of beauty and everlasting.

The wedding has been through many traditions and alterations incorporating the area of the fashion of the wedding dress. Changes through time and social considerations have altered the way the wedding takes place, personal circumstances and social status has given diverse and different standards of weddings. The main avenue of marriage is the notion of love and history has seen the introduction of divorce, and with the phrase till death do us part has taken a back step with everlasting love. The book the wedding 150 years of down the aisle style, has shown detail of the history of the wedding appearance and alterations of style over time. It also distinguishes between the classes and cultural difference.

The christening of the baby marks his or her first steps into the life of a community. It’s about symbolic purification. In the ancient world all infants underwent ritual immersion as a symbol of spiritual cleansing.

The early Christian church warned that an unbaptised soul would be stranded forever in limbo. Although this reasoning was later changed to believing that a baby have good luck and that the baby would not thrive until it has been named. Early Christian baptism would be done completely naked and submerged into the water completely. It was during the seventeenth century that the sprinkling of water was introduced. The christening cake is sometimes the tradition of being the top tier to the parents wedding cake.

Today’s christening gown evolved in the mid eighteenth century. Before this time they would be wrapped in a silk bearing cloth that were embellished with gold and silver trimmings or elaborate embroidery or lace. Early examples of the Christening gown had a front opening which were fastened with ribbons or ties. The dresses then moved into a gown of a short bodice and long flowing skirt, this fashion of the dress is still popular in today’s fashion. A tradition of handing down the Christening Gown, with the dress becoming a heirloom. Other areas have seen how generations have made the gown out of their own wedding dresses, it was also thought that f the baby slept in the gown on the night of the christening the baby would be filled with good luck.

I have decided to carry the christening gown around with me, just like in history where the odd spare moment would be spent creating by hand the elaborate detailing of the dress. I am particularly interested in this as, the endeavor of the piece is vital to show the viewer how time and effort has been put into the piece, showing a representation of the time spent caring and lovingly put upon a baby when born.

The published book the subversive stitch, is turning out to be a fascinating encounter of embroidery within a feminine means, looking historical at how females particularly participate in the process of textiles, and its confinement of being classed as a craft rather than an art. The book focuses on classing the area of embroidery within a contemporary context

Lace is a multi functional material, used for erotic fantasies, making the women feel sexy, encountering sexual pleasures, it is also used for the christening gown a religious ceremonial dress worn by a child, it can also be found on the inside of the window concealing what is inside

Need to do something with seeds, the process of holding life, although not necessarily producing life. A connection to the matter of life and death.

There seems to be something horrifying about the prospect of blood, it holds scarified issues of death, a suffering of physical pain, but it here that Jesus bleed on the cross, for the reasoning of all human kind, and it was through the baptism of john the Baptist that Jesus took on all the sins of human kind, and died for us. John the Baptist, the son of Aaron was seen to be a prophet sent by God and give the sinners a chance to repent their sins and move on forward into the life of god, giving them a resurrection, through repentance, although this would not guarantee them a place in God’s kingdom.

Today I visited the church of Saint Mary and All Saints otherwise known as the crooked spire, time was spent contemplating the interior space and observing the people present within the holy sanctuary. During the time there I observed the christening font and the communal chalice that was of beautiful decoration and sophisticated design. The everyday chalice was of simple structure and made of solid silver, an elegant but nothing out of the ordinary in design. The more elaborate chalice was garnished with precious stones and was produced within the late 17th century. Underneath was a text description honoring a certain gentleman who had died, and was obviously thought of fondly within the church although; the inscription had no specific history to the piece. I was informed that there was also another made of solid gold, although this was kept safely within a vault and was only used for the church’s significant ceremony’s for example if the bishop was to visit.

The baptism font was historical in age, made solidly of stone with a wooden lid that weighed a ton as I was unable to lift it. Several images was taken although the piece was not grand at all, and had a age to it. The thought of the chalice made me concentrate on the area that it is shared, passed from one mouth to the next, for each to share, its communal the drinking and excepting of Jesus Christ’s blood into one’s own.

The work of the wine glasses is being further developed with the material investigation, a higher quality of glass is also being sourced with the area of crystal hand cut wine glasses as it’s the thought that the work has been through a process of hand processing.

Today I felt utterly miserable, I decided to write my final letters to the people closest to me in my life, writing the letters made me realize I have shared mixed memories with each person, and have different personalities for the different people although not completely different but a mixed range of understanding with them. I found the hardest letter to write was the one to my boyfriend and my mum, although I am close to my dad it’s my mum I have shared so much of my life with. I decided to write this as I the main reason for this project as I have come to realize is the contemplation of my own death. And I feel it necessary to put myself in the situation of death; although we all are dying we just don’t know when for sure it will be. The idea has started although at present I am unsure on how they will be displayed.

I have always been obsessed with my own physical death and the questioning of how I will die, I’m always questioning whether I will find myself somewhere else. Like when you wake in a unfamiliar place and question where you are. Bob Dylan sings that sleep is like a temporary death, so could the dreams and visions we have actually be another dimension, another world similar to this one. The silver cord works with the notion we can astral travel to places we may never even see. Walk the world unnoticed or enter new universes. Theory suggests that if the silver cord breaks then the physical body will die, allowing the soul to move on into the afterlife. Ok so I have had these dreams and visions but scientifically could this not just be the mind making sense of what is going on subconsciously.


The final letters are going to be produced weekly at the present time and then hopefully will become a daily occurrence, as my intention at present is to form some sort of room installation, that is based on the memorial cloths of the Victorian era. Working with the symbolic images that would be used to represent the different area of the afterlife and death. The circle at present is a possibility as this is symbolic of rebirth and suggests the avenue of the afterlife. The lily flower is also a possibility as this has associations to funerals and superstitions to death.


The suitcase of my clothes has been produced and is to be a continuous life project changing every time I feel that I have. Representing the smaller deaths in life, like relationship break up, my own mind development and changes in my life. When I came to reflect on the contents of the suitcase I came to realise that they were the clothes I wore to my degree show, and I consciously picked this clothes for the aesthetic value and I feel now that I should pack another case as already my mind has changed in the thinking of the art I am creating.
The aim of the project is to specifically research within the area of applied art used in conjunction with a time based situation, giving a realisation to the contemporary art practice within a professional criteria, gaining an understanding on the conceptual art exercise that can relate and participate an audience. It is here that I will want to understand how best an art piece will work in gaining the audiences attention and interaction with piece. The location will also be explored and hopefully recognised with a connotation.

The intention is to produce an art form that the audience interacts with mentally and/or physically. The art piece is to give the viewer an emotional question, one that concerns the elements of personal life experience, enviably questioning how time controls life and how through time we develop, experience and grow older and die: absorbing a mixed range of mental and physical changes.
The overall aim of the work is to focus on successfully touching a persons inner emotions and having them put themselves in the situation of the art form, to let them experience a inner feeling, as if the piece is touching their soul.

The research is being guided towards encountering the thoughts of people who are experiencing a life or death situation, or have been through one, this may be in a number of different ways from either instant shocking experiences or the onslaught of being given a diagnosis of killer diseases, areas of mental depression is also a questioning notion about the work, as 1 in 6 people will suffer from a form of depression sometime throughout their life. Areas of interest are
What was it that they experienced or are experiencing?
Inner emotions.
Concerns.
Worries.
What happens to their mental status?
Did they/ can they accept that they will die.
What scared/scares you the most?

This is a vital part of the research, as I want to be able to relate perfectly with the illusion of looking death in the face. Through questionnaires I plan to source information on how the audience have perceived the piece of art and the way it has communicated to the audience.

Having always had a questioning mind of what is the meaning to life, and whether there is anything beyond it. I want to research the theories and thoughts of others. This will also led to the area of memory, with the theory of Rudolf Steiner and the belief that all the pain put on to others will be felt through the experience of death. Another area is the religious attributes of a Christian society and the belief of there being a heaven.

The art piece is to take on a performance, which will have a time-based element that brings the piece to an end. This may take on a number of different approaches. I don’t want to be confined to a particular medium although material textiles and ceramics as well as personal performance are all likely paths to producing the art form. Through material investigation I feel an appropriate development is within the use of osmosis and diffusion of a mixture of liquids up and through the art form, other ideas incorporate the use of ceramics and the inter play of the audience, as well as using mechanisms that will control the art form and allow it to work without the aid of audience interaction. Becoming a shocking envelope of happenings, that will not be expected.

The idea is to raise questions on the objective of death and the memories we carry through life, the pieces will hopefully develop and take on various forms off instantly recognisable objects that we hold as being familiar to ourselves. The reason for this is to play a key associations we have we subject matters,

As the work is mainly a event, it essential to document the art form as well catch the interaction or response of the audience, I hopefully intent to do this by video and photographic documentation, as well as written texts on the viewers interaction with the piece, giving evidential documents to able to produce a proposal for art funding or exhibition purposes, hopefully creating a series of images that can be produced into a catalogue of work.

University facilities of video editing and studio space for material investigation, access to workshops and facilities is also a major part for the development of the visual area. This will be worked out to suit the time and needs I will have for this area of investigation. Exhibition/ gallery space of a first exhibition will also be sourced for the undertaking of essential research of how the audience perceive the notion and aesthetics of the work and the idea how best the piece can communicate to a given spectators.

Understanding the area of near death experiences and the paranormal, relating the art practice to the conflict withhin my own mind on whether i believe that there is life after death, how do i capture the presens of my own thoughts and feelings within the piece tell the audience they are my own thoughts and I put nothing on you but to think about your own, I preach no answer in the knowledge of life after death and never will until i can hold the proof within my hand and show the evidence. collaboration with a medium has also formed into a development with a true believer within the avenue of existing after death. how can i get the medium to respond and help within my own practice, what relevance will this be to the practice.