works

Innards

Fountain, with live performance

Commissioned as part of A Woman’s Place, at Knole House in Kent, by Day & Gluckman, this work was comprised of a fountain, made from hand-made and hand-glazed tiles, made over a year, with a base built and installed by Kunstruct..

Text from the website: [Innards] explored the impact of Knole on the women who lived here, and of three women specifically: Victoria Sackville-West, Josefa Durán known as Pepita (her mother and infamous flamenco-dancer), and Vita Sackville-West (her daughter). A working fountain, ‘Innards’ borrowed the form of a dressing table and made public a space usually reserved for private ritual. Water, architecture, gardening and intimacy were brought together to reference important elements of these women’s lives.

The fountain echoed Victoria’s incredible energy and the installation of running water, electricity and telephone which she oversaw at Knole. The planting of Heliotrope nodded to Vita’s later career as a gardener. It was also the base note of Victoria’s favourite scent. The work alluded to the difficulties and complexities of these mother–daughter relationships, and of finding moments for tenderness, care and sensuality against the backdrop of public display and the performance of being a ‘lady’ of Knole.

Also included here is a short video of ‘Performing the Toilette’; a maquillage piece performed alongside and in response to ‘Innards’. Featuring the performer Natalie Sharp, and filmed and edited by Alice May Williams.

Performing the Toilette August 2018 devised and directed by Emily Seed August 2018 from Lucy Day on Vimeo.