This piece was commissioned as part of Nunhead Arts Week 2009, where five artists were invited to make work for shop windows along the main road in Nunhead. The project was supported by Nunhead and Peckham Rye Community Council. My window was at Mummy J Fashions and was titled Mummy Superior.

I was interested in the local folklore of a nun said to have been beheaded on Nunhead Green during the Dissolution of the Monasteries in the 16th century. Although there is no historical evidence for this story, it remains part of local mythology.

The shop I worked with sold Hollandais fabric, which is widely used in West Africa. These textiles often use pattern to visualise proverbs and folklore, which informed my approach to the window design. I created a pattern that combined references to both the Hollandais textiles and the legend of the nun.

Having lived opposite a nunnery as a child, although not raised Catholic, I often observed the nuns from a distance. I remember finding them striking in their black and white habits, and when seen on rare outings they appeared both serene and slightly otherworldly.

I made small painted figures of nun-like girls in black and white dresses and photographed them around Nunhead Green. These acted as a personal response to the legend, like my own version of the Cottingley Fairies, figures existing somewhere between folklore and imagined history.

Shown in :

Nunhead Arts Week 2009 Nunhead Windows Project, Mummy J Fashions, London (UK)
18 Sept - 4 Oct 2009