This piece was inspired by Katherine Howard, the fifth wife of King Henry VIII. She married the
King at seventeen and was beheaded just a year later. The crown, designed as an oversized
necklace rather than a traditional pendant, symbolizes the heavy burden of responsibility placed
on Katherine—a young girl forced into the role of a woman. The neck was initially sculpted from
air-dry clay using a mannequin neck as a mold, but it cracked as it dried, requiring a recreation
with gray clay. A store-bought picture frame was painted gold to give it a royal and ancient
appearance. To craft the crown, a template was first cut from an old cereal box, traced onto a
copper sheet, cut out, and assembled. The inner lining, meant to rest on the head, was made
from sewn red felt. Using an image from the internet as a reference, gemstones were carefully placed on the copper crown with super glue. The necklace was composed of string and pearl beads and the back of the frame was a canvas board painted with acrylics. This piece, representing Katherine Howard, ties into the artist’s investigation of how the modern world perceives the wives of Henry VIII, shedding light on aspects of their lives that are often
overlooked.