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Silk pure and ruined

The "Silk" series of photographs reflects the expressive power of fabrics in art and the age-old allure of luxurious fabrics; in particular their associations with Renaissance painting and with ancient texts. Individual photographs appear to have absorbed key moments in the vanitas tale of Glauce and Jason from Greek mythology. Jason deserted the sorceress, Medea for Glauce, daughter of the Corinthian king, Creon. Medea, in a jealous rage, sent the girl a poisoned garment which fused with her flesh, killing her. The mirror in which Glauce admired herself is echoed by the oval dressing-mirror format of the photographs.

Greek myth: Glauce & Jason

Glauce, a princess of Corinth betrothed to the hero, Jason received a wedding gift in an envelope of silk.

When the parcel was opened and its contents revealed the young princess and her attendants stood back murmuring in amazement. For inside was a garment of marvelous beauty. The figured cloth gleamed as if it was woven by a magic hand; and when lifted from the envelope the tunic floated into graceful folds as if it had a life of its own.

Impatient to see its effect, Glauce and her ladies draped it around her, while another fetched a mirror. Enjoying the gowns silken caress, Glauce stood before the mirror, captivated by her own reflection.

The garment bestowed upon her an aura of unimaginable splendour. It had recreated her as a work of art. So dazzling and alluring was she that Jason would doubtless fall upon his knees in adoration.

The princess ran outside to greet Jason on his return, hardly aware of a prickling sensation in her skin. In the sunlight the gown took on a celestial radiance and she stood entranced by the shimmering of its golden edging. The prickling became a burning itch. Her face grew pale, then livid, as the magnificent garment clung to her in a deadly embrace, squeezing the very breath out of her so that she could barely scream "Take it off" as she clawed frenziedly at the fabric.

But even as her ladies attempted to remove it, the enchanted cloth stuck faster as it interacted with the light, growing darkly stained in the places where its vibrant colours released their poisons and dissolved into the princess's flesh.

The exquisite material of the gown had indeed been woven by a magic hand: that of the gift giver, the divine witch, Medea. She had fashioned the garment with its cunningly concealed gift of death as retribution because the princess, so much younger than she, had stolen from her the love of Jason.

And just as Medea had schemed, Jason on his arrival at the scene found not a vision of living perfection, but a spectacle of disintegration and death. Not even the strong Jason could remove the magic garment - now stained, ripped and tear-marked which had become inseparable from the princess's flesh. It served as Glauca's shroud and on what was to be her wedding day she was buried in it.