PAULA CHAMBERS

Titles 1 Gift

Location 1 Nave S aisle 2 Nave N aisle

Statement In the late 19th century the new mood of enlightenment and rational thinking gave rise to a proliferation of religious sub-sects which predominately found favour amongst the lower middle and working classes. Spiritualism as a religious movement may seem to us now, with the hindsight of over a century of technological innovation, to be at best a misguided Victorian fad, or at worst an exploitative music hall charade. But at the time it provided considerable emotional relief for the multitudes of women who had lost children and loved ones and sought the reassurance of the certainty of an afterlife. Spiritualism also provided legitimate employment for the lower middle and working class women for whom no other options were available. My work for Durham Cathedral “The Gift” is both a tribute to the resourceful women working within the Spiritualist movement of the 19th century and an acknowledgement of the emotional impact of infant mortality on women of all classes.

Gift

Gift