Victoria Rance

Victoria Rance
Pulpit
2006
Powder coated steel
106 x 145 x 145 cm
41 ¾ x 57 ⅛ x 57 ⅛ in.

Victoria Rance graduated with a BA honours in Fine Art from Newcastle University in 1983, and subsequently an MA from Kingston University in 2009. Based at APT Studios in Deptford, London, Rance received the 2003/4 Mark Tanner Award for Sculpture. She is interested in interactivity between the viewer and the sculpture.

Whilst studying and subsequently drawing the pulpits in Georgian churches along the Strand in London, Victoria Rance noticed that their height, form and style changed stylistically throughout the ages. Following the Reformation of the 16th century, pulpits were built high above the congregation; stressing the importance of scripture over the Eucharist, and lending the preacher an air of absolute authority. This architectural decision was most prevalent between the 16th and 19th century, during the height of Puritanism. Yet the late 19th and 20th century saw the Liturgical Movement encourage participatory worship. As such, pulpits became lower, so that those preaching would be closer to their congregation. Overlooking the lawn at Roche Court, and the sprawling landscape beyond, Rance’s Pulpit offers a place to address an ‘audience’. In Rance's words, the Pulpit is a “celebration of freedom of speech, and the joy of expressing ideas in words to others”.