"Reliquaries" are pieces of art that hold a sacred object. Often the Christian church , especially in the Middle Ages, created reliquaries.
Most of what I have seen in person have been artwork depicting the life of a saint or their martyrdom and in some part of the piece, a window containing an actual piece of that saint's body.
Since I first learned of reliquaries I was fascinated by them- odd, dark, potent, meaningful and to me strangely beautiful.
I am quite a sentimental person. Over the years I have collected many, often seemingly useless, objects because they represent something important to me.
About a year and a half ago I was struck with the notion of creating my own personal reliquaries. I have finally completed the first 4, but have several more I'd like to do. While the objects contained within the paintings (some are simply embedded, others are inset and covered with glass) are not sacred in of themselves, they represent something very important and personal to me.
All of the "objects" involved represent a difficult time which God carried me through. These are real struggles that I faced with the goal of not only overcoming, but learning from them.
Each piece contains a very personal story. These are literally parts of my life. Precious to me but I'm offering it all up to the viewer...
"Reliquary No.1"
36"x36"
Encaustic and natural materials on panel
Inset: vine, acrylic, encaustic and glass on panel
24"x24"
Encaustic, acrylic and paper on charred wood panel
24"x24"
Encaustic, enamel, satin ribbon and ring on panel
36"x36"
Encaustic and shellac on panel
Inset: feathers, encaustic, pins and glass
