In the 13th century painting by the Master of the Magdalene, the hairy hermit is depicted holding a scroll that reads: "Do not despair those of you who are accustomed to sin, and in keeping with my example, return yourselves to God."

In my reworking of this image on the left, the inscription reads: "An act of great unction performed by a first-century woman placed me eternally at a man’s feet - no wonder Kiki Smith sculpted me wearing an ankle chain, my own foot tethered to history's many omissions and legends - as these grew and scripture ceased to be the source of my stories, I shed my clothes to the brush and chisel of the great artists - ART made of me a consummate mourner whether beside the cross or as the red-cloaked figure who literally became the very foot of the cross - or as the woman caressing the feet of my dead beloved - or as the hermit in abject penance in my grotto in the wilderness - comatose, I was placed in the hands of the angels - voicelessness pushing me silently to the margins. I stand here - in the center - my right hand in VITARKA MUDRA - the mudra of discussion, reasoning, and teaching - thereby reclaiming my voice as central to my being".

WHAT ART MADE OF ME

Oil and collage on shaped masonite

(120cm x 240cm)