Hema in ancient Greek means blood. Thríno means lament or grief.

This piece is reimagined and adapted from the original Hema Thríno pictured below.

It might be clear that I was working some things out in the making of this knitted sculpture. Namely, a grief to do with the natural departure from one stage of life into the next, evidenced in part by the changing soul landscape bringing me towards menopause. Over time, I’ve learned that I do best when I wrestle with matters of the heart/mind/body through my hands. Maybe writing, maybe drawing or weaving… in this case, knitting with gorgeous deep red cotton thread, strong and soft at the same time, and engaging with a plant called Witches’ Broom, parasitic in nature, that you find on trees and bushes. Witches’ Broom is an abnormal growth of branches in the tree, usually signaling some kind of distress.

Evidence of distress mixed with beauty, resilience, and strength…

I’d been looking at the first iteration of Hema Thríno for some time in my studio and I began to see her in a different form~ less vulnerable, more in an assumption of power and clarity. So off the wall she came and we got to work together and brought her into fuller form. She has a countenance now. She is here more fully… calm… and powerful.