Ode to Gwerful Mechain by Katrin Moye

Gwerful Mechain was a well-known and popular Welsh female poet active between 1460 and 1502. She wrote devotional poetry exploring traditional Christian themes, as well as a number of poems that focused on more profane matters. Poem to the Vagina is the title of her most well-known work, although some courageous translators assert that the true title is Ode to the Cunt.

In this poem, Mechain begins by noting how men often praise the beauty of various physical attributes of women—the face, eyes, hair, and arms—yet fail to mention what she considers the most wondrous part of the female body. She then corrects this omission, celebrating the “circle of greeting” in lyrical detail and concluding with the lines: “A girl’s glade, it is full of love / Lovely bush, blessed be it by God above.”

Inspired by Mechain’s poem, Katrin Moye created this piece as a celebration of the overlooked—and often looked-down-upon—part of the human body, the one uniquely belonging to the baby-making half of the human race.

Stylistically, this work draws inspiration from the tile panels made by Andrea della Robbia, which are often framed with relief sculptures of fruits, leaves, and flowers, each carrying symbolic meanings related to the subject within the frame. Katrin closely based this roundel on devotional roundels created by the Della Robbia family as objects of contemplation in church settings. While maintaining the devotional and contemplative nature of these works, her subject matter takes a more corporeal turn than those crafted by Luca della Robbia in the 15th century.

The homage to both Gwerful Mechain and the Della Robbia tradition manifests in the form of the final line of Poem to the Vagina written on a Renaissance-style curling ribbon floating over a relief of a beautiful bush, surrounded by intricately carved three-dimensional fruits and flowers, all of which have historically been used as visual metaphors—or even slang terms—for the “girl’s glade.”

Rose terracotta clay, underglaze, slip and transparent glaze

65dia cm 

2025

Photo credit: Roy McCready