Kim Harley-Griffiths

Winter Rituals

The Forest and the Changelings are bound to each other

 Welsh magic and mischief of transformation

 My changelings exist in that liminal, twilight space permanently caught between forms. I want to evoke a sense that there is something both unsettling and beautiful, familiar and otherness.

Clay is the perfect medium for this, its earthiness connects to the forest, and there is something ancient about clay figures that echo back to ritual figures and votives.

St. Melangell, Welsh saint of Hares and sanctuary, she is my founding spirit of an enchanted forest that protects. Her promise of sanctuary extends to all creatures who belong in the wild. Blodeuedd was created from nature, from blossoms of Oak, broom and meadowsweet to be a wife so she was made from the forest gifts of the flowering trees but as a punishment was transformed into a owl returning to the forest for sanctuary, protection and belonging.

Winter ritual is a coming.

On my journey I have drawn inspiration from The Mabinogion, with its rich tapestry of Welsh mythology, and its timeless, haunting narratives. This has led to my ongoing series of ‘Bwbach’ sculptures, which explore the delicate line between the human, animal and the mythical, while questioning themes of identity and transformation.