Maelstrom Tapa dura - 2017

Cecily Baker (Deborah Hodge) is an artist, writer, photographer, stand-up comedienne and mother of four. Born in Bolton in 1973, she and her brother were raised by their grandparents and attended school in Bolton. Baker achieved a Bachelor of Arts Degree at De Montfort University in 1995, continuing to undertake a PGCSE in Art at Greenwich University before becoming a secondary school teacher in 2002. In 2005 she completed a Master's Degree in Education and rose to become a senior leader in secondary school education, eventually relocating to West Sussex. Baker has undertaken three years of her doctorate PhD at Kingston University investigating how students learn, with the intention of finding a new focus for teaching. Her field of interest is in prejudicial concepts and how learning is influenced by gender, class, culture, race and religion. Her career ended in 2014 due to domestic circumstances, causing Baker to return to South East London in haste. Leaving teaching behind she concentrated on nursing a sick child and raising her four children. It was during this time that Baker transformed her life through art, poetry, writing and performance and Maelstrom is the story of this journey.