Sacred Heart

2019

12” x 8” x 8”

Wolf skull, Cheesecloth, Silver Wire, Pearls, Beads, Glass Case

In a handful of old European cities, there are glass cases containing the articulated and intricately adorned skeletons of saints. People who are canonized as Catholic saints are considered holy in body, mind, and soul. This led to the keeping of holy relics, or parts of these people’s bodies, to bring its blessing to other sites. Locks of hair, blood, bones, or even whole limbs were removed from the body and transported.

The largest relics are fully assembled and adorned skeletons. Tulle is painstakingly hand-made by the nuns of the convent undertaking this task. On top of the tulle, intricate metalwork ranging from woven wire to elaborate silver plates would adorn the skeleton like clothing and armor. The ordeal of covering the entire skeleton could take years.

When I looked at those saints in my research, it occured to me how small they looked under all the jewels and silk. No amount of cover could hide the fact that only bones lay inside that shell. Showing parts of the skeleton was part of the design for this reason, in a strange and backwards way it reminded me that riches don’t come with us when we pass away. In their case the saints were lavishly decorated only after they were long dead, an allusion to the endless rewards in Heaven for living a blessed life.

This piece is an adolescent wolf skull; many of its sutures are still not fused, there’s a roundness to the head that looks puppy-like. The wire I used is silver and silver-plated. I chose beads that are beautiful and well-crafted. No matter how much I put on this skull, or how lavishly I decorate it, the aesthetic is ultimately for the pleasure of the living. The wolf with her teeth bare under the cloth does not care about jewels.