InBetween Artist Residency - the witches shrine

the panels are all found materials, considered worthless like the outsider women of this shrine.

 the shrine was placed in a long abandoned stationers shop which had simply been locked and left when the owners wife died, a very sad and dispossessed presence in the back streets of dumfries perfect for a shrine such as this

 reflections and found materials play a big part of this installation

the panels reflect many states of mental anguish, anger, exhaustion and defiance that the woman must have experienced throughout their ordeal

a single model was used to capture these ten women - their individual personalities were accentuated by different patterns in their clothing as well as different very difficult emotional reactions conjured up by the model kathryn milligan

copper leaf, found materials, spray paint and tranfer prints were used to give the shrine both a decorative yet very ordinary feel. the panels often being the backs of old household furniture, cupboards and the like.

all of the individual panels were bound togethor by red twine which was historically used to ward off witches

the witches stones which ground the shrine are made from stone collected from locharbriggs quarry - historically witches gathered at locharbriggs to carry out their ceremonies. bound playing cards are another way of protecting against witchcraft, often inserted into documents. the key comes from st michaels kirk which stood at the time of the witch trials and was party to these atrocities against the women.
the stones were carved for me by an old pal darren campbell, witches stones were hung in barns and cottages to protect "ordinary" people from evil!

the patterns found here run through to the other more holistic shrines reminding us constantly of this terrible time in dumfries and scotland's history 

one of the women managed to bribe and buy her freedom but had her cheek branded  by a molten hot iron causing smoke to come out of her mouth according to witness records. she was then banished from the district and all her friends and family  

the location allowed great interplay with both the building and the street in the reflections 

mirrors on either side of the window extended this interplay with the shrine

at night the shrine was lit allowing a series of late night vigils for the women which lasted all winter long

the witches shrines commemorates one of the darkest episodes from dumfries's past. in 1659 ten women were accused of witchcraft by dumfries kirk session. the women were held and tortured to extract a "confession" and during this terrible ordeal one of the women who could stand no more hung herself in her cell. the other 9 women were found guilty and on the 13th of april 1659, probably on the white sands although this is disputed among historians, they were tied to stakes and brutally strangled from behind by soldiers then their bodies were burnt to ashes. 

agnes (comenes) cairnes, janet mcgowan, jean tomson, margaret clerk, janet corsane, helen moorhead, janet callon, agnes clark, janet mcnaught and helen harris. all ordinary women guilty of no crime.

there were many similar instances at this time of hysterical witch trials but this stands out by the sheer inhumanity of the collective execution of nine innocent women. one of the women was a known healer, the others were simply outsiders, perhaps unpopular with their neighbours, perhaps a little bit unusual in their beliefs, paganism was still popular as were other alternative belief systems. this is how dumfries treated its outsiders in 1659!

the organic patterns that start in this shrine extend through the outsider art shrine where a more humane system for treating outsiders began and into the clothing of todays custodian outsiders who protect dumfries. the patterns drawn from the engravings and carvings of flowers from the churches of dumfries remain the link between all the shrines and echo through the layers of history in my project as a constant warning about how we perceive and treat each other.