Witch in a Bottle Series, 2025

I have been developing a body of work around an artefact that is held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, Oxford, UK called the ‘witch in a bottle’ which was found in Surrey, England in 1912.

This series of work is inspired by an artefact called ‘witch in a bottle’, currently held in the Pitt Rivers Museum, which was found around 1912 in Sussex, England. I have had a long-lasting fascination with this object since I was a child, as I would stare into the shiny reflective bottle wondering what is actually inside? I have returned to it now in my life as I attempt to answer this question in my work. I have used toy ‘geo-magnets’ and balloons in order to try and fit a witch in a bottle and physically 're-create' this artefact as a form of research and understanding. Through this I created a logic whereby the bottle is the balloon and the magnets are the witch. I am examining boundaries, categories and what freedom in restriction can look like through a queer feminist lens. I am using painting as both a legitimation and ‘artefac-ting’ of queer experience.  




Royal College of Art MA Painting Show, June 2025

Peck o’ Trouble
Oil and acrylic on linen.
200 x 140cm

Witch in a Bottle Series 1
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm

Witch in a Bottle Series 3

Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm


Peck o’ Trouble
Oil and acrylic on linen
200 x 140cm
2025

Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Black)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025

Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Black)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025

Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Black ball)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Black ball)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025



Detail
Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Orange)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Orange)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2025
Detail
Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Blue)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2024

Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Blue)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm
2024

Detail
Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Yellow)
Oil and acrylic on wood panel
30 x 41cm
2024



Detail
Devil’s Dyke
Oil and acrylic on wood panel
30 x 41cm
2024

They Float
Oil and acrylic on wood panel
30 x 41cm
2024

They Hover
Oil and acrylic on wood panel
30 x 41cm
2025

They Float and Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Blue)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm each
2024

They Hover and Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Orange)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm each
2024

Devil’s Dyke and Witch in a Bottle Series 1 (Yellow)
Oil and acrylic on wood panels.
30 x 41cm each
2024
Witch in a Bottle Series 3 (Green)
Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm 
2025

Witch in a Bottle Series 3 (Red)
Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm 
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 3 (White)
Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm 
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 3 (Yellow)
Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm
2025 
Witch in a Bottle Series 3 (Purple)
Oil, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets on hand-carved stained wood panels. 
30 x 30cm 
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm each
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2 (Black)
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2 (Orange and Black)
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2 (White)
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2 (Red and Black)
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm
2025
Witch in a Bottle Series 2 (Yellow)
Balloons, acrylic, paper, latex, geo-magnets and screws on found wood panels. 
31 x 15cm
2025
Bottled Up (Black)
Oil, acrylic and latex on canvas.
120 x 80cm
2025
Bottled Up (White)
Oil, acrylic and latex on canvas.
120 x 80cm
2025
Balloon stretched on canvas stretcher, paper, acrylic and geo-magnets 
Transparent latex stretched over canvas stretcher, arcylic, paper and geo-magnets