Uno Spettacolo della Morte
-A Spectacle of Death-
“Uno Spettacolo della Morte” is a Western State Colorado University Senior Exposition, a body of work that reflects my fascination with the human figure and an example as I have sought to ponder why, as humans, we go to such lengths in order to keep human matter preserved.
Across cultures, mummification and preservation of dead matter is a practice performed to celebrate the life of one lived. My body of work, Uno Spettacolo della Morte, is a series of four mixed media paintings influenced by such practices performed by Roman Catholic and Orthodoxy traditions within the 13th and 14th century Italian Renaissance. These religious reliquaries commemorate the life of saints, martyrs, and others of near-divine status, displaying tangible evidence of the holy spirit. The body and soul are directly linked in this religion and once the body dies, the matter that is left contains the iconographic holiness of soul/spirit. Therefore, the body is preserved in ornate reliquaries and ossuaries so the spirit can return to the flesh if/when the Resurrection of Christ occurs.
My paintings attempt to capture the alluring grandeur of these fine-crafted reliquaries. Uno Spettacolo della Morte provides the experience of observing something distinctly beautiful while, ultimately, discovering that the paintings themselves are a presentation of perverse and preserved human remains. The frames, in their found state and replicated gold-leaf coloring, lure the viewer in closer—like that of the three-dimensional relics themselves. The tones I have created by applying dark walnut ink and watercolor washes emphasize the shading throughout the bones—making the subject appear archaic, radiating the sensation of something long dead but ever present in its preservation.
The exhibited “webbing” is a visual representation of my mental process as I created and researched this subject matter. Such is heavily influenced by my Italian studies abroad in the Summer 2016 semester and is intended to lead to viewer through the exhibit as my mind had wondered literally while conceptualizing Uno Spettacolo della Morte.
I aim to leave my audience with an understanding of how important reliquaries are historically and presently to all who see Uno Spettacolo della Morte, regardless of religious affiliation. Relics have always acted a mode of pilgrimage and cultural tourism. As you venture through the show, realize a transformation you may experience in response to my work and maybe, realize your own fascination with dead matter as a spectacle of death.