Sinéad Cullen
Heart womb

Heart womb

Heart Womb
(2013)

Charcoal and gouache on Fabriano 4 smooth finish 220gsm paper

225 x 150cm

Heart womb was one of the series of paintings I made in conjunction with my sculptural study of hands and hearts. I started to draw and paint these small pieces of sculpture at this large scale (2.5m high x 1.5m wide) with a cruiosity to see what might emerge. The process of zooming in on these small pieces and blowing htem up to such a large scale really allowed me to see the sculpture in a new way.

From this piece the sense of a womb formed by cupped hands emerged. I’ve been intrigued by the feminine power in the act of receptivity. From the outside the act of holding or containing appears to be very passive, especially when compared to the ‘thrust’ of the masculine power that we see all around us in society. But this feminine power to hold and contain really is a great sustained and deeply nourishing force, one that I feel we need more of in society.

The use of gold paint in this piece was a little experiment but I was delighted with how the idea of a sacred sanscrit symbol emerged. I love the sanskrit symbol ‘om’ and have it tatooed on my left arm so I felt this was painting has a promordial feminine sound to it.