passages: travels with eleanor

In 2002, I visited Fontevrault Abbey, the resting place of Eleanor of Aquitaine, in the Loire Valley of France. While there, I photographed her effigy. The image haunted me for a long time and entered my imagination. It was the beginning of my work and ongoing research.

During her long life, she was queen of both France and England. Following the untimely death of her father, she married her second cousin Louis IV, and then divorced him on return from her journey to Jerusalem (not an easy task returning from Jerusalem nor procuring a divorce from the pope); she then married Henry II ( he was later to be implicated in the murder of Thomas Becket at Canterbury Cathedral). Henry also placed Eleanor under house arrest for ten years, accusing her of treason, when she attempted to line up her sons for kingship . Her complex story intrigues me still. She outlived both of her husbands and most of her children, including her son King Richard the Lionheart. She retreated to Fontevrault Abbey, passing from this world on 1 April, 1204, at the age of 82.

One thousand years later, as the sun was streaming through the windows of the abbey, her life connected with mine. Who was this strong and intelligent woman who had endured and survived and travelled to so many places? I was deeply moved by the story of Eleanor’s life.

Eleanor travelled with Louis on a journey from Metz in France to Jerusalem. The journey took two years. She stopped in Constantinople (Istanbul). When I began my research and photo documentation of this journey, I chose to begin in the place that transformed her life, in the Golden Horn and Istanbul. I have made many trips to continue my research and take photos, draw, paint and weave tapestries inspired by places where she travelled. 

“My research has taken me to some of the places in her life and my imagination and memory has created the art. These images are not intended to follow a story line, instead another kind of story has evolved.  Stone, glass and wood are what remains, the traces of her life.” 

As a Canadian with roots in both France and the British Isles, I was intrigued by her complex and remarkable story. I continue to make and plan research trips to visit the places in her life and some of the places where she traveled while on her journey to Jerusalem in 1147. 

In 2010, I mounted an exhibition with the beginnings of this work, “Passages: Travels With Eleanor”.

In 2021 the work continues, as I edit over 3,000 slides and continue to create work inspired by my discoveries and reflections on Eleanor’s remarkable life.

Please join me in these travels and discoveries.