Cuando Parti Una Manaña De Verano
(As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning)

Researching the Spanish Civil War (1936-39) led me to this black & white photograph of five volunteer nurses taken in Spain*. Both the nurses and location are unknown. As supplies ran low the task of washing, folding and rolling bandages for re-use would have been a necessity. One of the nurses appears to have a head wound.

The Spanish Civil War was costly in terms of human lives. It was a ‘testing ground’ for the modern military warfare that was subsequently employed in World War II. The bombing of the city Guernica is considered one of the first raids in the history of modern military aviation on a defenceless civilian population.

In response to this poignant photograph I wanted to make each of these women a medal (brooch) that in particular draws attention to the vital roles that women have played, and still play, in times of war.  Women are all too often overlooked, and are undervalued and unsung heroes in times of crisis and conflict.

In Picasso’s Guernica (1937) there is a white flower tucked away at the centre bottom of the painting.  The flower is being symbolically planted in the earth, representing rebirth and regeneration. It is the powerful symbolism of this flower that inspired the motif for each of the enamelled medals created in honour of these women.

2014 marks the centenary of both the beginning of World War I and the birth of Laurie Lee. Lee, writer, poet and artist from Slad, Gloucestershire, set out to walk to Spain to support the International Brigade when he was just 19 years old. His autobiography As I Walked Out One Midsummer Morning gives a moving account of the journey and conflicts he experienced.

*©National Museums Scotland. Scottish Life Archive Collection
Licensor www.scran.ac.uk

Susan Cross
Edinburgh June 2014