P001 → Shamemail, ongoing
Rites and Rituals, 2024
Iron wire, limpet shell, sea glass, rock, moss
Photos taken by Yin Mei at the James Black Gallery in 2024
Medicine bag on cairn, 2024
Yarn, iron wire, wool, raspberry leaves, valerian, black haw, cramp bark, dandelion roots, red clover petals, rocks, sea heather
Photos taken by Yin Mei at the James Black Gallery in 2024
Z-rod (a warrior’s death), 2024
Yarn, iron wire, twig
Photos taken by Yin Mei at the James Black Gallery in 2024
Shamemail is an ongoing project researching the material culture and cosmological beliefs of Iron Age Celtic and Norse peoples. To better understand and cope with their experiences of intergenerational traumas, Smith reconnects with these cultures which make up their heritage. They were inspired after learning that their family was cursed in 1525 CE by the Archbishop of Glasgow. The curse, boasting a thousand words, was laid upon their and other Border Reiver families for consistent raiding, pillaging, murder, and rape of villages around the Anglo-Scottish Border. Shamemail, comprised of hand-crafted objects and installations, explores how an ancient relative might have coped with the curses handed down by their own ancestors. By connecting with this imagined person through the research and creation of historically inspired objects, Smith uncovers new ways of healing.