The Old Lore was True (Selkie Chair)

This is a hand-painted lambing chair evoking the sea. It was inspired by the Orkney folklore of the Selkies (seal people) who sometimes slip out of their seal skins into human form and dance and bask. So what happens when a fisherman seizes one of the skins? The lambing chair was pieced together from old and new wood so in the end painting it was a good solution (not something I would do to an original antique!). I wanted to explore the folk tale from the perspective of the female Selkie and from a contemporary feminist perspective: basically she is abducted ... The work combines my upholstery skills, my first foray into furniture painting and also story-telling through poetry. There is so much to say about it I had to write two blogs: https://www.artchairs.net/blog/theoldlorewastrueselkiechair https://www.artchairs.net/blog/theoldlorewastrueselkiechair2finished I'd absolutely LOVE to show this in a sea-themed or folk-lore inspired exhibition so please contact me if you are putting something together, or I could co-curate ...