Concealed Shield is an installation I made for Spellbound: Magic, Ritual and Witchcraft at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford 2018-19.
The viewer enters a blacked-out room to see a large glass heat suspended above them. Red laser diodes illuminate the slightly swaying heart, causing red shadows to move gently around the room.
Animal hearts represented the hearts of witches, placed up medieval chimneys, to ward off evil spirits. Some were pierced with nails to cause pain to the witch. In this case, the heart is pierced with red lasers, red traditionally an important colour for protection.
The viewer also hears faint scuttling and scratching noises, as if the room was alive with vermin - or are they familiars, the small creatures witches kept as their companions?
