Marina Featherstone

Artworks

Paradise Portal
Bucchero ceramics
200 x 175 cm

Paradise Portal (Detail)
Bucchero ceramics
200 x 175 cm

The Majestic
Gold, lapis lazuli and ink on paper
75 x 53 cm

Artist Statement

The intention and inspiration of my work is to assist in the revelation of beauty whilst being a custodian of an ancient artistic heritage.

I found my artistic home when I had the privilege of viewing the original illuminated manuscript of Mevlana Jelaluddin Rumi’s “Masnevi” in Konya. The refined and beautifully proportioned “biomorphic” motifs, in gold and precious colours, ignited in my heart the desire to devote myself to the study of this art. Since then, my focus has been the design language of early 15th-century Timurid manuscripts, and the architecture of the 13th-century Seljuk masterpiece, the Divriği Mosque and Hospital in Anatolia, Turkey.

My vocation and passion is the study of these biomorphic motifs through intentional and profound understanding of their proportions, rhythmic unfolding, harmonic placement and symbolic reference. In “collecting” these motifs, my research deepens in its purpose.

At the School I was encouraged to experience diverse media, and an interest in ceramics as a method of bringing life to these designs was born. Additionally, an introduction to an ancient Etruscan ceramics tradition known as bucchero, through a summer course in Faenza, Italy, allowed me to begin conceptualising the possibility of this as a medium to explore further.

My second year project is in honour of the Divriği Mosque and Hospital, as well as the bucchero ceramics tradition, which I studied in-depth during an apprenticeship in Gubbio, Italy. The magnificent design of the Divriği Mosque is a wonder of Islamic art and unparalleled in its majesty. I have chosen a section of its biomorphic pattern and have aimed to interpret it with sensitivity and respect in my own work. The result is a “prayer portal”, realised in bucchero ceramic tiles impressed into carved plaster moulds. The centre window is a piece of alabaster, a material used for windows which predates stained-glass and provides an awe-inspiring filtration of light. The project can be further elaborated into a full prayer-niche and wall, as portrayed by an accompanying drawing.

This project is supported by an illuminated work on paper which honours my artistic roots. The composition is of various design elements of the Divriği Mosque, and is rendered almost exclusively in 24-carat gold, and enhanced with coloured gold alloys and fine lapis lazuli.

I must pay homage to my dear teachers, both of antiquity who influenced me subtly yet profoundly, and those here with us today, for their guidance, wisdom and artistic integrity, and for their unwavering encouragement and support.

Biography

Marina’s vocation as an artist is in studying the heritage of Islamic biomorphic pattern and design, elaborating on the beauty and majesty of ancient illuminated manuscripts and sacred architecture. She works with gold, precious colours and ceramics, to realise works of sensitivity and awe, with the intention of always maintaining respect for the masterpieces of old. Her passion is in deeply understanding the proportions, construction and rhythmic unfolding of these motifs, as well as their myriad symbolism, which she aspires to portray in her art.

Born and raised in Canada, she now calls Italy home.

Contact

Website https://www.marinafeatherstone.com/
Instagram @marina_featherstone_art
Email featherstonemarina@gmail.com