Cradle
Cheryl Scowen

2005
mixed media
46 x 60 x 48 cm

Description
Cradle-shaped basket sculpture made from woven willow and poplar. Around the lower section of the basket is a band of rag-rugging. The inside wall of the basket is lined with wool and embroidered with the first three verses of Genesis in Gaelic (taken from the Gaelic Bible at Meroogal). The base of the basket is lined with a lavender-filled sachet.

Significance statement  
Cheryl Scowen was highly commended in the 2005 Meroogal Women’s Art Prize for her work Cradle. The regional prize was established by the Historic Houses Trust (HHT) in 1998 to maintain a continuing link between today’s women of the south coast and southern highlands of NSW and its heritage property, Meroogal. The theme for this year was Patterns, stitches and threads. Scowen’s work is often concerned with cultural heritage:

‘My main interest was with the influence of religion in the lives of the Thorburns [of Meroogal] and how it … was a link to their past and provided comfort in their new land … The embroidery inside the work is the first three verses of Genesis written in Gaelic. This is the language the people of Meroogal brought with them from their homeland of Scotland.’

The shape of the work is a cross between a boat and a cradle. The exterior is made using willow and poplar from the old world that would have been familiar to the family and represents the family’s past and the boat which brought them to a new land. The interior of the vessel resembles a cradle, within which the family’s carefully cocooned religion can be seen. Their religion brings both a source of comfort to the family and a sense of their selF

‘The cradle for me holds the patterns of their lives. The emboidery is stitching them into a community and providing a thread back to their homeland. The security of all this enabling them to create a new world in a new country.’

The embroidery of the biblical text serves a dual purpose: to address the theme, Patterns, stitches and threads; and to connect with the Meroogal women who were experienced needlewomen. The rag-rugging symbolises Meroogal as hearth and home.

History
Cheryl Scowen created this sculpture for entry in the 2005 Meroogal Women’s Art Prize. The work was purchased by the HHT in 2005.

Maker biography
Cheryl Scowen majored in painting at East Sydney Technical College in the early 1980s before studying sculpture at Canberra Institute of the Arts. A long-time resident of Nowra, Scowen has exhibited in many group exhibitions, two solo shows and has organised exhibitions for local artists, especially women. She has exhibited in the Meroogal Women's Art Prize for many years, being highly commended three times and one year winning the People's Choice award. Her work is held in private and corporate collections.

Image credit
Joanna Gilmour

Bibliography  
Hughes, Joy & Walker, Meredith, Meroogal, Nowra: a history and a guide, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Glebe, 1988
Ramsay, Janet K, The women of Meroogal, Historic Houses Trust of New South Wales, Glebe, 1988