Maternity
21 × 22.5 cm · 42.5 × 52.5 cm framed · Smalti, gold, millefiori, marble and wheat grains

Maternity explores the ancient relationship between protection and new life. A sweeping blue form curls around a smaller golden centre, suggesting a figure bending protectively over something precious — a child, a seed, or simply the potential for something new to emerge.

The materials carry their own associations. Wheat grains sit at the heart of the work as a simple symbol of fertility, nourishment and possibility, surrounded by concentric rings of marble, glass and luminous gold. Above, the deeper blues and delicate millefiori create a sheltering presence, their movement seeming to gather around and hold the central form.

At its heart, Maternity is about that act of holding: creating a protected space in which something separate from ourselves can begin, grow, and eventually become its own.