An agreeable space

An agreeable space is a site-responsive installation that highlights the visible and invisible supportive and interconnected relationships of women. This piece was initially shown in September 2021 at Holy Trinity Church, Goodramgate, York (the first place in the UK to receive a Rainbow Plaque). The 143 adorned pew cushions were accompanied by over 100 pale blue lit candles and offered audiences a heightened sensory experience in which to consider the lives of all the women who had passed through the very agreeable space that the church in York provided.  In response to this space, each pew cushion was placed to cover half of the pew seating. Each stall pew would have housed each family attending church separately. The ruffled pew cushions denoting half the congregation, the female congregation. The hand sewn adornments use a variety of fabrics representing a cross section of society. These fabrics have been used together to represent this coming together and speaks of the interdependency of women with one another in society and the possible changing fortunes of women throughout their and their descendant’s lifetimes. The ruffle adorned pew cushions contain Yorkshire lavender, which when sat on, crush and release the scent - denoting the women who have passed through the space over the years, filling the air with their fragrance. Again, I wanted a scent that has been universally used and worn by women for centuries and using lavender felt right. With the scent of these cushions, I wanted to give the feeling of someone that might be right behind you or having just left and smell seemed the perfect partner to give this sense of person to the piece and thus the audience interacting with it.