The High Places

This is the first in a series of new video works by Holly Slingsby, where the artist performs in sacred or psuedo-sacred places in an attempt to activate their latent spiritual energies. This work was made in the ruins of three churches in Romney Marshes, and focuses on a priestess character who tries - with various objects and actions - to call these places of worship back to life. Her accoutrements recall the prophetess Miriam, the figure of Justice and the holy virgin Vesta, amongst others. As well as trying to reinvigorate the locations themselves, the work imagines it can channel the ancestral power of these divine women. This work was commissioned by Kunst Vardo and supported by Arts Council England.