The Pengguling Egg
Client: the Greater Manchester Combined Authority (GMCA)
Role: Artist commission, creative writing, experimental poetry, illustration, lino cut relief printmaking
During the pandemic, I received an artist commission from the Greater Manchester Combined Authority. With the brief to respond to the covid-19 crisis, I created The Pengguling Egg – an invented poetic origin myth.
While fantastical, I wanted my piece to go some way towards capturing a collective experience. So, as research, I sent out questions via social media and Google forms to collect other people's stories and experiences of the pandemic so far. As well as taking a deep dive into all the strange things shared in public spaces online.
The result is an invented poetic tale whose themes, locations, characters and events are all inspired by the things I discovered. I abstracted these experiences into fantastical narrative elements alongside old world mythologies to shape the pandemic 'origin' story into something more mythical. I then illustrated my story through handmade lino prints, the style of the Azoth woodcuts from the 1600s (to tie in with themes of transformation and change).
The work was exhibited online in the GMCA's project gallery archive.
You can download The Pengguling Egg poetry booklet here or read the full poem on my artist website.
As well as working professionally in the creative sector, I'm also a self-employed artist/maker working across creative writing, illustration, printmaking and digital experiences. My practice is driven by a love of storytelling – why and how we tell stories, and how this shapes our culture. In my work, I'm interested in connecting contemporary experiences with folklore and mythological narratives. I regularly exhibit and sell my work under the guise of my childhood nickname, Mickeypip.