Household gods

by John Steed.

In these times of global uncertainty perhaps we turn to our home for meaning. In our home we have control. Our home is where we can create comfort and security. Our home is our space, a metaphorical warm blanket. Yet, every home has unexplained creaks, knocks, thuds or things that go missing. It is human to look for a cause, possibly to infer agency and intent.

As an artist, I have imagined we have gods in the home to protect us, gods we can placate. I have made images and sculptures of a pantheon of household gods to observe, protect, and influence all that happens within the home.

WHISTL – household god of the watched kettle

WYRD – household god of the insatiable appetite of the washing machine, also known as the god of the lost sock.

NETT - household god of rumour and gossip – also known as the god of the twitching curtain,  also known as the guardian god of doors and thresholds.

These imagined deities perhaps are a personification of hopes and fears.I intend these gods to be humorous and satirical, such as IGIT, the god that lends its sentience to our computer, printer, mobile phone and other household contivances so that they know when you are in a hurry. Here is a figurine representing EH (pronounced Eh) – the god protecting middle-aged British men leaving the house wearing shorts in inappropriate weather.

Figurine representing EH (pronounced Eh).

PEACC – two figurines of the household god of the bathroom door lock. 

Household gods have existed for millennia in many cultures. In antiquity, Romans would place their domestic gods, known as Lares, in a shrine or wall niche they called a Lararium. Household shrines often housed deities with whom members of the household felt an affinity and these gods were treated as members of the family where their presence was required at all important family occasions.

Perhaps household gods today could be equivalent to anxiety-relieving medications like benzodiazepines, or considered to be a natural remedy, perhaps the antithesis of big pharma drugs.

In my imagination, figurines and images are purchased to display as devotional objects- as such they may be regarded as essential ornaments in the modern home. They may be acquired as art, but their invention makes them no less real. Once adopted, do we honour them to keep them on our side? What if we neglect them? Better safe than sorry; after all, a nod to the god once in a while can't do any harm.

TROLLI – the popular goddess of having people around to dinner, always represented as a female figure, wearing a gown and holding a bowl; symbol of abundance and generosity.

John has exhibited his household gods at The Folk, Gloucester (2025), Gloucester Adopt an Artist (window of TSB, Eastgate Street) (2025) and in a joint exhibition, Gods and Monsters, with Caroline McCatty at the Gate, Gloucester (2025).

John Steed is a member of Gloucester Contemporary Artist and you can find his profile page on the GCA website. Follow John on Instagram.