Elinor Hunter

Ritual

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The use of ritual with In my work is really important to me I'm really interested in the role fabric plays with in ritual and spirituality like ceremonial dress or alter cloths. I’ve been exploring this by using fabric with in my own ritual practice. I have made a few pieces which involved taking pieces of my work to ritual sights like stone circles so that the fabric, the fabric gains spiritual significance from being at the ritual sight, and ritual practice becomes imbedded within the piece of fabric. I also have been experimenting with how the fabric can change the natural landscape of the space. I wanted to explore ideas around purification rituals and how some  women have been able to relclaim ritual bathing in a feminist way, as it honours the bodies  natural cycles and it is also used as a time for spiritual significance and renewal. I washed a piece of fabric in a lake because water is purifying and cleansing, Once the fabric was dry I suspended the piece

creating a sculpture which embodies ideas around purification and bathing, the sculpture is imbued with feminist ideas surrounding ritual bathing that honour the female body. 

 

The spiritual aspect of my work is very healing for me it provides grounding and a connection to nature. Using ritual  is also a way to document my spiritual journey. Before dying or sewing with the fabric I will use it in a ritual or take the fabric outside or to a ritual sight like a stone circle, On the winter solstice 2020 I took several of my textile works to a druid stone circle and used them in a ritual while the sun was rising.  I do this because my work explores the role fabric plays with in ritual and how fabric can have a mediative or healing effect. The fabrics are distinctly feminine in nature and appeal to the Devine feminine with in us which is attracted to the  beautiful and aesthetically pleasing.