practice, Mary can be seen to make a subversive statement about gender specifically through the arts. Despite seeming conventional in its prioritisation of craft, the ambiguous and arguably androgynous or hermaphroditic nature of creative practice fusing art and Mary’s craft can be seen as a kind of progressive of with its to be ‘practice bisexuality’ ‘refusal imprisoned in in woman fixity’, undermining sexual difference; Cixous’s terms, ‘benefits from and opens up within this as opposed to bisexuality’ man’s ‘phallic monosexuality’. The painted angel faces encircling the interior of the chapel which Mary painted – onto smooth gesso as though onto a flat canvas, unlike the high relief of their modelled bodies and the moulding used on the exterior terracotta decoration parallel the angel in – painting which serves as the this figure, George’s ‘The All-Pervading’ chapel’s altarpiece; surrounded by larger figures, seems to connect panels (two and three) and Mary’s Mary’s complete the wall of encircling group of winged the angels (‘the messengers’), symbolising creative partnership. As Melanie Unwin argues, approach to her Wattses’ Mary’s professional creative practice, marriage, and to her practice, position and ‘to […] husband’s can be seen to on [the site of] the Watts reputation’ ‘converge Chapel.’ Yet large-scale, life-sized angels dominate the chapel walls and dwarf Mary’s much smaller altarpiece (subsequently added in which is set back below the George’s window of the East Buttress rather than foregrounded, giving the impression that Mary’s encircling the interior walls are striding forward or approaching the ‘winged giantesses’ viewer standing at the entrance or centre of the chapel. These apparently androgynous whose widening hips, slender arms and feminine faces support an ‘Angel messengers’ – interpretation of them as female on closer inspection the symbols of Freedom and – ‘carry Limit; of Union and Conflict; of Stability and her creation of these female Change’. Through figures in conjunction with such socio-politically-charged binary structures, Mary can be seen to enter into and engage with the feminist discourse of her day which foregrounded these
practice, Mary can be seen to make a subversive statement about gender specifically through the arts. Despite seeming conventional in its prioritisation of craft, the ambiguous and arguably androgynous or hermaphroditic nature of Mary’s creative practice fusing art and craft can be seen as a kind of progressive ‘practice of bisexuality’ with its ‘refusal to be imprisoned in fixity’, undermining sexual difference; in Cixous’s terms, woman ‘benefits from and opens up within this bisexuality’ as opposed to man’s ‘phallic monosexuality’. The painted angel faces encircling the interior of the chapel – which Mary painted onto smooth gesso as though onto a flat canvas, unlike the high relief of their modelled bodies and the moulding used on the exterior terracotta decoration – parallel the angel in George’s painting ‘The All-Pervading’ which serves as the chapel’s altarpiece; this figure, surrounded by Mary’s larger figures, seems to connect Mary’s panels (two and three) and complete the wall of angels (‘the encircling group of winged messengers’), symbolising the Wattses’ creative partnership. As Melanie Unwin argues, Mary’s approach to her professional creative practice, ‘to marriage, […] and to her husband’s practice, position and reputation’ can be seen to ‘converge on [the site of] the Watts Chapel.’ Yet Mary’s large-scale, life-sized angels dominate the chapel walls and dwarf George’s much smaller altarpiece (subsequently added in which is set back below the window of the East Buttress rather than foregrounded, giving the impression that Mary’s ‘winged giantesses’ encircling the interior walls are striding forward or approaching the viewer standing at the entrance or centre of the chapel. These apparently androgynous ‘Angel messengers’ – whose widening hips, slender arms and feminine faces support an interpretation of them as female on closer inspection – ‘carry the symbols of Freedom and Limit; of Union and Conflict; of Stability and Change’. Through her creation of these female figures in conjunction with such socio-politically-charged binary structures, Mary can be seen to enter into and engage with the feminist discourse of her day which foregrounded these
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