Ritual, mythmaking, folk magic and folklore form part of Fern’s research, exploring archetypal images, pedagogical spaces and inner landscapes, creating works rooted in flora, fauna and place. Recent research has addressed the Phenomenology of Motherhood, with an emphasis on natural rhythms, moments of daily transitions, and ‘Women’s labour’.
Inspired by the feminist witchcraft and radical healing movement, visible particularly in the US, Fern’s Jerwood Bursary will fund exploration of the intersection between art and art as healing and question, since becoming mother, how to loosen the boundaries of what the role of the artist can be – integrating motherhood, DIY healing and traditional making. It will specifically support research into healing and folkloric objects at Pitt Rivers Museum.
