labyrinth -
the stories
I first came upon The Labyrinth around 2010. I met a young woman who took me to experience a labyrinth in a field in Rougham, Suffolk.
Some years later I felt prompted to try and find it again. I went to where I remembered it being, in the field next to an old thatched cottage. Where they had once been now stood a very modern rectangular house; the field, cottage and labyrinth no longer there.
From the moment of its inception the field labyrinth was perfect, it was whole. Like a seed it was complete, ready to be walked, ready to be used and yet, like the seasons it will change, it will grow and evolve, it will die away in winter, it will look different.
In the beginning the ground had new growth of chicory and wild carrot, and that is what we mowed into, creating the form. As soon as it was mowed, it existed. As the months passed and the plants grew, it transformed. More seeds and plants were thrown and planted, but it is still perfect in its essence. Like a seed is complete.
The travelling labyrinth was birthed out of the need to be able to take the labyrinth to others.
Two pieces of cloth were sewn together to make it large enough to fully experience the sensation of the space, whilst not feeling restricted.
Originally this was going to be a labyrinth to walk, but as I began to draw it I realised it would be too small. So this sheet became a flat canvas, to be sat upon and painted, and a communal art piece.
It already had the labyrinth drawn on it, but other than that it was a big empty cloth. I wanted to prepare it with shape and colour so that it wouldn’t be so intimidating when I took it to other places for people to join in and paint on it.
I have a little book entitled ‘Mazes and Labyrinths of Great Britain’, I’ve had it for a few years. It tells where various mazes and labyrinths are located.
I had an appointment in Ely, and from the book I remembered that there was a labyrinth in Ely Cathedral.
When I entered the building I thought I’d have to go searching for it, that it would be somewhere in the back of the cathedral. To my surprise it was not at all hidden away, it was in the front entrance. Directly upon entering through the large wooden door, there it was, a tiled floor, easily overlooked. Visitors stood on it oblivious.
