Posted on March 27th, 2015 by Jane Fairhurst

Continuing my interest in the female form as seen in Paleolithic and Neolithic sculptures from Northern and Eastern Europe I’ve started a series of knitted fertility deities. Following the pattern of the ancient sculptures these small works concentrate on the shape of the hips and the pudenda, they lack feet and I have given each one a safety pin for a mouth.  The safety pin mouth brings these ancient forms into the contemporary world where women have yet to achieve an equal voice in society. They also reference the unknown nature of the paleolithic female forms coming as they do from the Archaic Era before the written word, they cannot speak. These ancient sculptures, found in great numbers, suggest the importance of the female in Paleolithic and Neolithic society.