'Mare Sacro'Tabernacle - 2021Mixed Media (click for details)10" x 25" x 36"
In the 15th century, Renaissance artists of Tuscany were actively incorporating Brunelleschi's principles of linear perspective into the devotional artworks they were creating for their patrons. To heighten the worshiper's sense of being in the presence of the sacred, forced-perspective (prospettiva accelerata) tabernacles were created for cathedrals, churches, and private chapels. These artworks framed and protected the contents stored within - the vessels of the Communion, a precious relic, perhaps a miracle-working image. To manipulate the viewer's emotional and spiritual experience, many tabernacle artists used tricks of visual perception to create an illusion of 'extra-dimensional' depth and radiance. Simultaneously magnifying and distancing, beautifully ornamented with glowing gold leaf and delicate carvings, Renaissance tabernacles left the devotee with the belief that they had directly encountered something transcendent, something sublime.
Mare Sacro is ornamented with natural specimens both from my home on the shores of the Salish Sea, and marine environments across the world. Echoing images of ascension and resurrection from Masaccio's Holy Trinity and Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, it imagines an alternative vision of what is truly sacred in the world in an age of climate change.
I'm indebted to Fabio Colonnese (Sapienza University of Rome) and Nick Humphries (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) for their assistance in researching the optical mathematics of Mare Sacro.
In the 15th century, Renaissance artists of Tuscany were actively incorporating Brunelleschi's principles of linear perspective into the devotional artworks they were creating for their patrons. To heighten the worshiper's sense of being in the presence of the sacred, forced-perspective (prospettiva accelerata) tabernacles were created for cathedrals, churches, and private chapels. These artworks framed and protected the contents stored within - the vessels of the Communion, a precious relic, perhaps a miracle-working image. To manipulate the viewer's emotional and spiritual experience, many tabernacle artists used tricks of visual perception to create an illusion of 'extra-dimensional' depth and radiance. Simultaneously magnifying and distancing, beautifully ornamented with glowing gold leaf and delicate carvings, Renaissance tabernacles left the devotee with the belief that they had directly encountered something transcendent, something sublime.
Mare Sacro is ornamented with natural specimens both from my home on the shores of the Salish Sea, and marine environments across the world. Echoing images of ascension and resurrection from Masaccio's Holy Trinity and Titian's Assumption of the Virgin, it imagines an alternative vision of what is truly sacred in the world in an age of climate change.
I'm indebted to Fabio Colonnese (Sapienza University of Rome) and Nick Humphries (Victoria and Albert Museum, London) for their assistance in researching the optical mathematics of Mare Sacro.
