In the 400th anniversary year of the Mayflower voyage, artist and sculptor Rachel Carter followed in the footsteps of the Mayflower Pilgrims to develop a brand-new body of sculptural work inspired by their journey and encounters, which brings together ancient crafts and contemporary technology in new and innovative ways. In order to bring attention to the often-unheard stories of the women on this journey, Rachel created the Pilgrim Woman series; a plus life-size bronze sculpture for the DANUM Gallery in Doncaster near Austerfield, birthplace of pilgrim William Bradford; a smaller Pilgrim that stands on a carved stone plinth in Gainsborough and a new sculpture, ‘Pilgrim Women Boston’. featuring two women bound together with a cord created through a public engagement project with women around the county.

This exhibition brings together elements from Rachel’s research and broader practice to contextualise the Pilgrim Woman sculpture series and showcase the depth of research undertaken by the artist during this project. A key example of this research is her eight-day voyage across the Atlantic on a cargo ship– echoing the voyage of the Mayflower Separatists. Throughout the project, Rachel has been committed to researching and exploring the lesser-known histories of the Mayflower Pilgrim’s journeys, including the histories of the people of the First Nations. Spending time in Boston, MA, she visited The Peabody Museum, part of the Harvard University campus, and spent a few days in the archives, assisted by specialists and archivists, studying and sketching artefacts made by people of the First Nations, examples of which can be seen in the exhibition.