The Iron Womb
Yule ritual dinner, 22 december 2024 during Yule Festival at Domein de Schans
At the center of this work was the cauldron — the Iron Womb — in which the food was stirred, spiced, and slowly heated. The cauldron functioned as both a practical vessel and a symbolic space: a womb from which warmth, nourishment, and light emerged from darkness. The shared meal became a ritual of transformation, marking the turning point from death to rebirth, from darkness toward returning light.
Sharing food created connection on the most fundamental level. At the table, hierarchies dissolved, and participants met each other simply as human beings. The act of eating — earthy, sensory, and communal — became a spiritual gesture, grounding ritual in everyday embodiment.
This work brought together two worlds that had been growing closer in my practice over the past year: my artistic work and my long-standing involvement with Domein De Schans, where I had been cooking for retreats for the past three years. By bringing my art practice into this context, the ritual dinner became a site where nourishment, ceremony, and artistic expression merged.
The gathering offered a moment to witness the turning of the year and to share warmth, food, and presence in the depths of winter.
