'Memento mori'Reliquary/House altar - 2021Mixed Media (click for details)5" x 9" x 20"
Reliquaries - containers used to protect and display sacred objects or religious artifacts - are common to many cultures. Often elaborately decorated with gold, silver, and precious gems, the relics they enshrine are believed to be capable of miracles. In Medieval Europe, reliquaries often displayed the bodily remains of a saint, serving as a powerful reminder of the fleeting, fragile nature of life (memento mori - 'remember you must die'). A pilgrimage to see such a revered object could help to renew an individual's commitment to their beliefs. In some cases, individual families would commission the creation of miniature versions of large scale altarpieces (retables) or reliquaries in order to facilitate personal worship at home.
Red coral has a long history in artworks both sacred and secular. Thought to have mystical properties, coral served not only as a symbol of fertility and vitality, but also as an important protective charm used to ward off evil. Coral, the "living stone" that grows from the sea bed, miraculously connects the plant, animal and mineral world. Here coral is used to frame the upper niche of the altar, radiating out from the nautilus shell like the sun rays of a monstrance.
The central salmon jaw displayed in this reliquary, found on a beach near my home, is a potent symbol for me of the fragility of the Salish Sea. All of the natural species represented in this piece are under threat from a changing climate in one way or another.
My thanks to Rachel King of the British Museum, London for her assistance on the background research that helped guide the development of Memento Mori.
Reliquaries - containers used to protect and display sacred objects or religious artifacts - are common to many cultures. Often elaborately decorated with gold, silver, and precious gems, the relics they enshrine are believed to be capable of miracles. In Medieval Europe, reliquaries often displayed the bodily remains of a saint, serving as a powerful reminder of the fleeting, fragile nature of life (memento mori - 'remember you must die'). A pilgrimage to see such a revered object could help to renew an individual's commitment to their beliefs. In some cases, individual families would commission the creation of miniature versions of large scale altarpieces (retables) or reliquaries in order to facilitate personal worship at home.
Red coral has a long history in artworks both sacred and secular. Thought to have mystical properties, coral served not only as a symbol of fertility and vitality, but also as an important protective charm used to ward off evil. Coral, the "living stone" that grows from the sea bed, miraculously connects the plant, animal and mineral world. Here coral is used to frame the upper niche of the altar, radiating out from the nautilus shell like the sun rays of a monstrance.
The central salmon jaw displayed in this reliquary, found on a beach near my home, is a potent symbol for me of the fragility of the Salish Sea. All of the natural species represented in this piece are under threat from a changing climate in one way or another.
My thanks to Rachel King of the British Museum, London for her assistance on the background research that helped guide the development of Memento Mori.
