Reliquary Series
This series of works explores how objects are witnesses to our lives, absorbing meaning and memories because of their proximity to ourselves or a loved one. After the sudden passing of my father in early 2019, I became fixated on the idea that objects, regardless of their value, can become meaningful tethers to memory. Taking this as a point of departure, I became interested in the concept of the creation of relics. While relics are most commonly thought of as a bone or other remnants of a revered figure, I am more interested in the 'contact relic,' which is a stone, cloth, or other ephemera that comes into contact with the sacred. Within this context, the reliquary becomes an important device. Not only is it meant to house and protect the relic, but it also mediates the viewer's experience of the object inside. Historically, the reliquary is also made of far more costly materials than the relic itself, with the idea that the relic is invaluable compared to the gold or precious stones containing it. All of this manifests in creating vessels to house 'relics' of my own that bore witness to special memories or people in my life.