The Selkie : A Photostory

part I:

“in a crown of gull feathers, driftwood and kangaroo paw, she is ready to swim to the bone-shell of the West Pier and speak the starling language of mumuration.”

part II:

“the tide beached her high on the stones; out to sea the Rampion lights danced red on the water beneath the stars, and she waited, drowning in memory.”

part III:

“… and the people on the pier thought her a ghost, or a lost oyster-girl, barefoot and crowned like a forgotten saint, holy and gently mad.”

part IV;

“Time, like strata, deposits rich seams of substance, workable across worlds; a driftwood-wand, a necklace of hag-stones (flint and dissolved calcium carbonate); and looking through, nameless forces are made visible.”

part V : “A crown of vines is still a crown; She, a queen nonetheless, and always such.”

part VI

“Camouflage; becoming one with the landscape, surrounding myself in water, draping myself in shadow. When the dream evaporates, there is only the breathing tide, echoing in shells.”

part VII

“the infinite wishing-well of the sea, each stone a prayer, each stone a weight on the scale.”

part VIII

“Strength”

part IX

“I realised I held within my hands all that was needed; that warmth is fundamental in Maslow’s hierarchy of needs.”

part X

“…her face became soft and whiskered, her eyes widened and became mirrors, and for the rest of her time between worlds, she was known as The Selkie.”

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The Selkie : Francesca Cluney

Photography : Michaela Meadow

Dress : Phaedra

Seal Mask : Gladys Paulus

Textiles + Text : Imogen Di Sapia

West Pier, Brighton, 2018

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Copyright Bright Moon Weaving Studio / Imogen Di Sapia 2018

Online sharing : copy link back to source website http://www.brightmoon.co

Credit all artists as listed.

Email weaving@brightmoon.co for permission in writing to publish in print or for use of imagery / text in all edited formats.