LA STREGA E L' ALBERO (The Witch and the Tree) by artist Gioconda Pieracci

Mixed media:  Paper clay, alpaca wool, wool gauze, silk yarn, wool yarn, hemp yarn, batt wool, acrylics, approx. 12.5" tall and 10"wide

Techniques used: sculpting, embroidery, free embroidery, needle felt, drawing. 

The box forms part of the work. She can be displayed inside the box or outside of it.

About this piece:  Trees have often been associated with witches for the mystical function they had in ancient times. Often if a tree is isolated as happens with monumental walnuts and oaks it was identified as a meeting place for witches where rituals and sabbats took place. It is believed that some trees contained witches (as they contained Dryads and Hamadryads in ancient times). 

In making this doll I wanted to emphasize the relationship between the witch and the tree by fusing them into a single being that fears the fire with which it is destroyed but also knows that fire releases incredible energy.

I also wanted to remember the faces of the martyrs in the classic iconography because the witches in their own way were sacrificial victims. 
I gave her a familiar, a raven, a bird, because birds are also so connected with trees.

These are the words written on the inside of the box:

"The witch’s body is an ancient tree,
with roots sinking deep into the earth,
veins filled with the sap of forgotten knowledge,
and her leaves woven with old spells.

As she burns, her trunk crackles with fire,
flames crawl along her fingers, her branches move with the wind.
Every flicker is a breath, every ember a name,
rising into the sky with smoke and heat.

Her body does not fall but shifts,
becoming ash and light carried by the air.
Like a tree stripped of its bark and leaves,
her essence remains, still dancing among the stars."