Sue Mansfield, MA

Artist Statement

I entered The King’s Foundation School of Traditional Arts with a passion for Byzantine iconography.  My art expression has developed through further techniques learnt and honed at The School; in addition to iconography I particularly enjoy stained glass and calligraphy.  It’s my belief that art has the potential to open a window onto The Divine for the viewer. My careful choice in the juxtaposition of images and other symbols from Nature, sacred geometry and cosmology, continues to fuel both my artistic curiosity and my art expression.. The reverence for materials and pigments from Mother Nature’s rich bounty has also become an important aspect to me.

For my second-year MA project, I have explored how the Sacred Feminine has been portrayed and how she is depicted in ancient wisdom stories about the soul’s descent.  This was often obscured from plain sight within the faith stream I grew up in.  My project’s journey starts with Inanna, 2400 BCE, and continues through the pre-Christian then Celtic heritage of Saint Bridget; through the Shiva-Shakti (masculine-feminine) balance of soul-energy depicted in the Old Testament Song of Songs; into the spirit of Saint Mary Magdalene who was called ‘The Apostle to the Apostles’; and into the Holy Mother energy of Saint Mary, who is the ‘Seat of Wisdom’, the ‘Sophia’, on which Christ sits.

My hope and intent are to continue to explore through my art the symbolic mysticism surrounding the Chalice and the Tree of Life and their association with the Sacred Feminine.