Volume III Reliquiae, Remains of the Dead, 2000-Present
15 split toned 8x10 gelatin silver contact print
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Reliquiae, Remains of the Dead, 2000-Present
8 x 10 Gelatin Silver Contact Prints or 33" X 44" Split Toned Gelatin Silver Enlargements
The pictures began with religious objects from my grandparents funeral home. The group grew to include prayer cards given at funerals, postcards, and personal objects from deceased loved ones.
Assembled from iconic religious imagery, and the man-made world, these photographic relics explore the uncanny mysterious power that emanates from the person or thing that is sacred. All religions have sacred objects. These objects are given a power by the faithful. The manifestation of this power forms the connection between the natural and the supernatural, often in the form of good versus evil. To see or feel a divine presence, to make the invisible, visible is not merely for the holy. In these pictures, we have a point of contact, a tangible memorial, a “reliquiae,” or remains.
-Marco Lorenzetti, 2012
Redemption
This triptych has been in my family for years. It was in my grandfather's funeral home in Detroit and kept watch over many local prayer services and funerals. When it came to me, I tried to connect with it and thereby, with my family in some direct and tangible way. I wanted to break into the serenity of the piece and somehow gain access. I needed a path so I built a bridge from the plants near my studio.
Adoration
The gilded frame of adoration shows the Madonna held safely in a nest. The matches below are sealed in jar. It's not always the fire below that poses a threat to those that we adore. Sometimes it's the weight of the world, and whether or not our beliefs will keep it at bay.
The Balance of Good and Evil
To make this photograph I had to feel both good and evil. Good takes the form of the open vessel representing the female body, the Italian Florentine triptych, faith, and the postcard from my wife's collection, which represents our enduring love. On the other side of this tenuous life, our fate. Sealed in old jars with a tangled weave, it weighs heavy.
The Philosopher
This photograph speaks to the paradox of love. It's safe embrace can be honest, or deceitful. It can strengthen us or strangle us. The promise of flowers sometimes leads to dried ferns in empty jars. I connected to these objects from distant relatives with an entangled embrace, just as the philosopher connects to the object of his desire.
Devil's Rope
Devil's Rope, or my Grandfather's barbed wire, is synonymous with repression. Here, it cuts across more than just property, war and politics. This vicious tool of control clutches my Grandmother's post card, keeping it in and us out.
Ascension
This child's swing hung in reverse holds this triptych from my Aunt. It reaches up out of it's earthly hole and bends toward the light. My Aunt's cleaver is also there, to separate the two, the heavenly from the earthly, the divine and the human.
Grace
This photograph tells of survival in the face of adversity. The seed pods below are from a magnolia, an ancient genus that predates bees. For the tree to survive, to pollenate, it used beetles instead. The trail of the meandering beetle can be seen, scribed into the log.
The Rosebud
This construction looks at the trials of temptation. Lured by bait like a fish, it's possible to resist. It's a decision we all can make when confronted with enticement. It can be uprooted. The source of temptation is not the woman behind the curtain, but man's own sinful heart.
Jacob's Ladder
I made this picture after reading the story of Jacobs Ladder. The roots from my mother's planter became the earth. The ladder, leading to the sun made of flower stalks, is held by a vine. What were merely bits and pieces minutes before were reshaped by simplicity and beauty to form a visceral connection.
Mater Admirabilis
This statue has written on it, Mater Admirabilis or Mother Most Admirable. When my Great Aunt died it came to me. Here, she is protecting her child, like all good mothers do, from the tangled world below. The pendulum swings to mark time, the one thing even a mother's love can't save us from.
The Faithful Witness
This photograph is about being held captive to a belief or tradition. This faceless deity came to me through my sister who received it when my aunt died. My grandfather's hand drill connects the outside world with an inner prison. Forcing faith is like taking away sight from the blind; it threatens harm without tangible consequences.
The Hidden Purpose
The hidden purpose is a divine plan only for the initiated, seen here as the candle, or light on top of the statues head. Nature's productive force however, the vine of green beans, is attempting to topple it, supplanting the spiritual with the natural world.
Youth and Beauty (two young girls)
This photograph looks at the preservation of beauty. Is it true that youth and beauty don't last? Youth we know is fleeting, our bodies are in constant flux. But perhaps, through art, beauty lives forever.
We Meet Again In Heaven
This construction is about separation and the grief of parting, the most human of all emotions. The block of granite is the earth, unmovable. Fate separates us all. For those of us still bound to this earth, the hope of being reunited with loved ones is ever present, even as their souls, seen here as seed pods, are being hoisted away.
Salt and Light
The crown of thorns from my Grandparent's funeral home, hovers above a constructed version of the all seeing eye. To connect to this symbol I've constructed this homemade trinity, which speaks to the essence of man as the salt of the earth, the light of the world.
Redemption