Artist of the month

Keiko Mukaide - The Memory of Place

Given impetus by a period of development supported through a Scottish Arts Council Crafts Creative Development Award, Scottish glass artist Keiko Mukaide has created a unique and moving installation for an historic former church in York.

The Memory of Place is Keiko’s response to the medieval interior of St Mary’s, Castlegate, with the stained glass, gravestones and carvings remaining from its past as a sacred site, and to the discovery by geomancer Graham Gardner of energy ley, underground streams and blind springs beneath the building. Using fire, water, glass, stone and light, and drawing on religious ceremony from her native Japan, the artist has transformed the interior of the church, creating a spiritual space in which to reflect on the memory of loved ones.

The visitor is invited to light a votive candle in small glass bowl and place it in the pool which runs the length of the nave. The gently flowing water carries the light westward towards a harbour of rocks and a dramatic illuminated column of glass suggestive of a spiritual path to a higher place.

The Memory of Place is the third installation in York St Mary’s commissioned by York Museums Trust and will be in place until 28 October 2007. For further information, visit the St Mary's website.

All images - Shannon Tofts, courtesy York Museums Trust.