A celebrated multimedia visual artist from Drewsteignton is appealing to the public to help plug the gap in funding for her next ambitious project.

Ione Rucquoi is looking to 'crowd fund' the remaining £6,000 of her budget for Sanctae, a large-scale installation which 'makes saints of the ordinary'.

The 37-year-old artist plans to produce 21 photographic panels presenting larger than life female nudes in the style of traditional Catholic prayer cards.

The project, which already has £17,000 worth of backing from Arts Council England, explores the intense emotions, expectations and sacrifices inherent in the female body's potential to give life.

Sanctae is already scheduled to be exhibited at the Royal West of England Academy in Bristol to coincide with next year's International Women's Day.

But the shortfall in funding means production hangs in the balance unless Rucquoi can pull together the remaining money needed for large scale printing, finishing and transport among other costs.

She said: 'A lot of time, effort and money has gone into creating what I believe to be a totally unique project. Funding for arts projects has suffered recently hitting bold new projects which can often be sidelined. With a helping hand from the public I hope we can get this one, at least, back on track.

'Sanctae is a large scale installation comprising 21 eight foot by three foot photographic colour panels of female nudes. The installation houses photographic images of women as real as any of us.

'Resonant with historical and religious symbols and signs, these larger than life idols make saints of the ordinary by exploring the intense emotions, expectations and sacrifices inherent in the female body's potential to give life.

'They create a space of challenging reflections and revelations about issues of contemporary womanhood.'

Rucquoi has gained a reputation for projects marrying the social and the natural through distinct photographic portraiture, using the naked form alongside plant and animal life.

She has exhibited in shows and galleries around the UK, and more recently in Europe with work appearing in Amsterdam, Ukraine, and solo shows in Switzerland and Germany.