Palimpsest, work-in-progress

The history of witchcraft is written on the bodies of women. It was the embodied experiences of the wise women, the empirical knowledge of so-called witches, that was so threatening to newly-establishing institutions and authorities. No part of the witch has been more subject to religious inquisition than the nipple, still highly taboo and contentious in any sociocultural appearances of women's bodies. The "witch's teat" or extra nipple was seen as particularly diabolical, serving to nurture her association with her familiars and demons as she fed them from her body's resources, bringing about her spiritual corruption. Demonological treatises of the 15th century explained how as the Devil sucks on a witch's breast, her blood becomes 'fermented' with evil.
Audio includes Looking in My Eyes by Ann Abel (royalty-free on https://icons8.com/music/)
This video poem continues the process of familiarizing with the Boscastle Harbour landscape, through sensory exploration of native grasses along The River Valency (Dowr an Velinji in Cornish) and interactions with the wildish ponies that dwell on the steep cliffs along the Willapark and Forrabury Stitches. A spell is cast by reciting the words from the Black Pullet needlepoint talisman collection held at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic, specifically the Miserere Deus talisman which, "Gives all talents and a profound knowledge of every art... " (from the Museum display text). The stitches fade in and out as the video ritual is performed. 
'Becoming Familiar', October 2022. Shot on location in Boscastle, Cornwall, along the hedgerows overlooking the low tide. Music credits: Remixed from Spring Rain by Dural.
This video work touches on the subject of magic to be found in the hedgerows of the British countryside (a traditional haunt of witches as it provides medicinal plants), as well as offers the spirit of the fox witch the freedom to finally exist in the landscape according to her wishes. The ghost face that appears, disappears and reappears is a photograph of a Victorian taxidermy fox with the wax death mask of a witch who wished to be reincarnated as a fox after death. This taxidermy sculpture is in the permanent collection of the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic.
Palimpsest addresses historical accounts of witchcraft accusations and convictions, as found in the collection of rare books at the Museum of Witchcraft and Magic. These primary texts, dating from the early 1600s, are typically inaccessible to the public due to their fragile nature. Here, some of the pages from these texts are transferred to the surface of translucent silk cloth to create tactile (touchable) ghost pages. The cloth backdrop is stitched and sculpted into a dress-shaped form with chaotic and unraveling smocking (a decorative bunched-stitch style developed in England that has featured in garments since the Middle Ages). This reference to dress is to indicate that the history of witchcraft is written on the bodies of (mostly) women. The video segments, still in development, are of various performances conducted around Boscastle, showing the process of art production involved in making the work.
Picture
Culpeper's English Physician and Complete Herbal. The 'heartichoke' was believed to be an aphrodisiac. The Museum of Witchcraft and Magic:.

Materials: Photochemical transfer on silk organza, embroidery on hand-dyed silk habotai, found baby mandrake, devil’s cherries and magic mushroom stems, video projection.

​Biography: WhiteFeather Hunter is a multiple award-winning and internationally recognized Canadian artist and scholar. She is currently a PhD candidate in Biological Arts at the University of Western Australia, supported by a SSHRC Doctoral Fellowship, Australian Government International RTP Scholarship, UWA International Postgraduate Scholarship, and a Graduate Women of Western Australia Bursary. Before commencing her PhD, WhiteFeather was a founding member and Principal Investigator of the Speculative Life BioLab at the Milieux Institute for Arts, Culture and Technology at Concordia University from 2016-2019.

WhiteFeather's biotechnological art practice intersects technofeminism, witchcraft, micro- and cellular biology with performance, new media and craft. Recent presentations include at Ars Electronica, Art Laboratory Berlin, Academy of Applied Arts Vienna, Innovation Centre Iceland, the Royal College of Art and in numerous North American cities. WhiteFeather’s research into developing a novel menstrual serum for tissue engineering was featured by biotech giant, Merck/ Sigma-Aldrich, for International Day of Women and Girls in Science 2021 as part of their Next Great Impossible campaign. www.whitefeatherhunter.ca
Instagram: WhiteFeather.Hunter