‘Lo stato miserabile di
essere è quelle tristi anime né fedele né infedeli al loro Dio,’
(The wretched state of being is those sad souls
neither faithful nor unfaithful to their God)
- June,
2013
- Media:
Etching
This work depicts
personal conflicting ideas of religion and the afterlife. The idea for this
piece stems from my adolescent age that is allowing the continuity of ‘growing
up’ themes within my life, as I begin to question the moral teachings of
society, school and my family. The basic ideology of this work is the
contemplation of the life after death. Various influences have forced me to
conclude that at the end of one’s life, we are all tainted with both sin and
goodness, yet the bible basically states that the ‘good’ go to heaven and the
‘bad’ go to hell. In turn, for the majority of the population that is guilty of
both offences, where do they go? This work shows the conclusion of the remnants
of such a person in purgatory, primarily protruding to the audience that I,
myself, are still unsure about the outcome of life after death.
Influences that have
helped me succeed in this work include my reading of the ‘Divine Comedy’, by Dante Alighieri. Alighieri was a 13th
century Italian philosopher, who wrote literature regarding his perceptions of
Christian beliefs. The Divine Comedy is separated into three books; Hell, Purgatory and Paradise. The novels follow the imagined journey of Alighieri
exploring each location and the type of people that are reduced to those
circumstances.
The primary influence
of German Expressionist artist, Otto Dix, has also aided in the production of
this work, as the etching is an adaption his work called ‘Der Krieg’ (The War). Dix used his personal experiences from war
to portray an image of a fallen soldier and the slow degradation of his body.
Dix’s skull inspired my debate over the existence of the afterlife, as soldiers
have committed sins but do it for the protection of their people and country.
Correspondingly, these soldiers developed my category of the type of people that
are guilty of both sin and goodness, and thus are presented in my work.
I choose to think of
my work as a continuation and thus adaption of Dix’s symbolic image. Dix has
accurately produced an image of a fallen man, yet my various inclusions and subtractions
portray a further story of his aftermath.
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