Crucible: A place or situation of severe trial or testing. In literature and common parlance, a crucible often symbolises a situation that forces individuals or groups to change or make difficult decisions. Crucibles was inspired by a photo of one of the Sisterhood sculptures exhibited at Fe29 Gallery in June 2024. Materials include metal rods, mesh, plaster fabric, Hydrostone plaster and wooden plinth. The ‘skin’ is tissue from vintage sewing patterns, echoing a time when women made their own clothes. The patina and inconsistencies of the 'skin' (foxing, wrinkles) is unique to the age of each sewing pattern, some unbleached and dark, others pale but coloured by time. The graphics on the plinths hint at pathways, routes, tracks and trails, some in the form a canoe bow or mythical oceanic causeways, others undeviating in their directive. These words and directions are gently subverted into subtle socio-political rhetoric and current gender expectations. All labelled ‘Miss’ they represent the manipulation of women’s rights and the ongoing struggle to maintain equal opportunity in today's society. Bound, mummified, encased, entombed, mute - as if they are modern day relics, Crucibles take their form from the 1996 series of paintings Sisters of Mercy. However, these sculptures also hint at the artist’s Greek heritage - the Caryatids of the Acropolis (who were built to carry the Acropolis ceiling, ie. burdens and remind the people of their sin in siding with the Persian King Xerxes during his invasion of Greece in 480BC).