“Myths, fairy tales, and folk­lore remain the inex­haust­ible source material for my prac­tice. I am partic­u­larly inter­ested in the ways myths illu­minate the life of the indi­vidual: the trans­form­ative jour­neys, psycho­lo­gical ruptures, and processes of meta­morph­osis that shape human exper­i­ence.” 

Wilhelmina Peace – Myths of Descent into the Under­world

What happens when we descend into the unknown? And what do we bring back with us?

Wilhelmina Peace works primarily in drawing and print­making. Before training as an artist, she studied Cultural Anthro­po­logy at Queen’s Univer­sity Belfast. Myths, fairy tales and folk­lore have since become central to her artistic prac­tice. She is inter­ested in how ancient narrat­ives reflect indi­vidual exper­i­ences of trans­form­a­tion, vulner­ab­ility, other­ness and belonging – and how they can offer symbolic orient­a­tion in times of social uncer­tainty. 

During her resid­ency at Villa Sonnen­berg, she will explore myths of descent into the Under­world. Her starting points are three well-known stories: the Sumerian descent of Inanna, the Greek myth of Persephone and the journey of Orpheus. Each describes a passage through dark­ness, loss and uncer­tainty, opening the possib­ility of know­ledge, trans­form­a­tion and renewal. 

Villa Sonnen­berg itself will become part of the emer­ging narrative. Its rooms, corridors, stair­cases, hidden corners and gardens will be trans­formed into psycho­lo­gical land­scapes. Peace sees the House as a symbol of the psyche and as a stage on which processes of trans­form­a­tion can unfold. 

Using drawing and a range of print­making tech­niques – including litho­graphy, drypoint, mono­print and collag­raph – she will develop the work into a three-dimen­sional sculp­tural artist’s book. The final exhib­i­tion will also include selected draw­ings, prints and sketches from the creative process. Curriculum Vitae

Wilhelmina Peace is a French-Amer­ican visual artist living and working in Belfast, Northern Ireland. She first studied Cultural Anthro­po­logy at Queen’s Univer­sity Belfast and later completed a BA in Fine Art Print­making at Belfast School of Art, Ulster Univer­sity, gradu­ating with First Class Honours. 

Her prac­tice spans drawing, etching, litho­graphy, collag­raph and artist’s books. Her visual language draws on Surrealism, Symbolism, Expres­sionism, book illus­tra­tion and outsider art, and is rooted in dreams, memory and archetypal imagery. Her solo exhib­i­tions include “Tender Furies” at The Black Box, Belfast (2026), a solo show­case at the Wool­wich Contem­porary Print Fair, London (2025), “An Ambush of Angels” at Belfast Print Work­shop (2025), “Fauna of Mirrors” at Vault Artist Studios (2024), and “Shad­ow­lands” in Belfast (2022). Her work has also been shown in numerous group exhib­i­tions in the UK, Ireland, Puerto Rico, the USA and Guernsey. 

Peace has held artist resid­en­cies at Lemonade Press in Bristol, Seacourt Print Work­shop in Bangor and Belfast Print Work­shop. Along­side her studio prac­tice, she regu­larly develops and facil­it­ates work­shops and parti­cip­atory art projects. 

Website: www.wilhelmin­apeace.com