In the Womb of The Rose
An Internet project to design a
virtual rose window celebrating the Feminine

Since the Seventies Feminist aesthetics sought a place for both women artists and craft skills defined, (and dismissed) as feminine. The great rose windows of the Middle Ages were conceived without the aid of sophisticated tools and made in a time when art and craft were not separate areas. Collaboration was more important than personal expression through individual authorship and content was supported by a central belief system. Even if we do not have the architectural spaces to contain such grand visions we can still create them by the use of modern virtual technology. By using the tradition of 'sacred art' in a modern context the template can transcend its Christian roots by employing multicultural imagery and artists from around the world. Despite post-feminism the public representation of femininity by women artists is still limited.

The initial idea and pattern for the rose window originated in the MA course on Visual islamic and Tradtional Art in 1989. The later art practice based PhD project entitled "Reconfiguring the Rose - the translation of a visionary Medium of the Second Millenium into the visionary Medium of the Third was begun in 2001 at the University of Sunderland and passed subject to minor corrections in July 2007. The rose window was translated into digital design for a large scale digital facsimile suitable for projection full size on screen. The rose window was designed to be a structured template that would facilitate individual participation for the 28 major figurative panels by a community of artists. The first stage created a website of historial background and context with ,examples and templates made up from from the basic geometry. The second stage designed a pilot project for artists to work online to create the finished image.

The pilot project was completed in September 2006 by 17 artists working together on line and can be viewed by visiting the site below. it was also projected large scale on screen in the New Media Cinema on the Sir Tom Cowie Campus at the University of Sunderland on International Women's Day, March 9th 2008.

www.wombrose.co.uk