Image description: Documentation of a performance recreating traditional Catholic processions with my own DIY parade float.
My work creates a visual language criticising and responding to my Maltese Catholic upbringing. I attempt to use the memetic practices and rituals of Catholicism in order to offer a satirical portrayal of the extravagance of these practices and rituals.
There is a combination of video and sculpture which has resulted from a performance. The materials used juxtapose Catholic symbols with the new visual language. The symbol of red wine refers to both the blood of Christ and the sins associated with partying/drinking. The cigarette acts as a humorous nod to the eternal flame. The dead flowers suggest the fragility of faith. The materials used challenge the church’s unnecessary use of expensive adornment.
The subject matter is in contrast with the associations of the colour palette (white) i.e. innocence, purity etc. The statue bearers (women, genderfluid, queer) wear their own clothes and styles as a rejection of uniformity that organised religion demands, whilst also challenging the patriarchal inclinations of Catholicism.
Just as the Tudors whitewashed the churches and monasteries to present an image of humility befitting the worship of God, I am examining the arbitrary nature of the worship of such grandiose imagery. Which is idolatry, and does it matter?
Instagram: @miahoskins.art
Email: miahoskins@outlook.com