Hellmouth

This vase is made from stoneware clay and decorated with red underglaze using a carved sgraffito process. The exterior is left unglazed so the clay surface remains matte and tactile, while the interior is glazed for the pot to remain functional. The imagery is inspired by The Flowing Light of the Godhead, the thirteenth century mystical text written by Mechthild of Magdeburg, a German beguine whose visionary writings describe the soul’s ecstatic encounter with divine love. Medieval manuscripts often expressed these experiences through intense symbolic language, visions of demons, angels and cosmic struggle. Here swirling forms, stars, devils and a spiralling mouth suggest ecstatic speech, revelation and spiritual turmoil. The vessel becomes a stage for these forces, echoing Mechthild’s imagery of divine love as a burning, consuming and transformative presence moving through the human soul.