This is a sculpture I did back in 2011 for my Master Degree.
Since I grew up in a very Christian environment, I have always been attracted by the darker side of religion. So I decided to explore with my art some of the horrors of Hell, as they are described in the Bible or the way I imagined Hell could be.
For this piece I went for the human decomposing and torment by fire, thus the name of the artwork 'Gehenna' :
'Gehenna or Gehinnom (literally translated as "Valley of Hinnom") is thought to be a small valley in Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was initially where some of the kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire. Thereafter, it was deemed to be cursed.'
The artwork stands 2 meters tall so it was quite shocking, especially for the people in my country which are very religious, reason why the teachers weren't sure how to approach such a theme...
For many years, I have been using the sculpture as a night lamp in my bedroom ), then a few years ago, when I returned home, I have realized that I don't have any photos with it... so taking advantage of the autumn cleaning in my yard, I have set a huge fire around the sculpture to create some context for the art piece. I even begged my mother to let me burn down an old barn the emphasis the mood, but she didn't let me do it.... maybe next year I'll have more luck. )
It was an interesting and delightful event, the whole village gathered around my house with pitchforks, determined to bring justice before God ).. just joking, only a few came out of curiosity, but they are nice and peaceful people...
Anyways, here are some of the photos I took then... I will post more soon with close-ups and other angles.
Hope you enjoy!
Since I grew up in a very Christian environment, I have always been attracted by the darker side of religion. So I decided to explore with my art some of the horrors of Hell, as they are described in the Bible or the way I imagined Hell could be.
For this piece I went for the human decomposing and torment by fire, thus the name of the artwork 'Gehenna' :
'Gehenna or Gehinnom (literally translated as "Valley of Hinnom") is thought to be a small valley in Jerusalem. In the Hebrew Bible, Gehenna was initially where some of the kings of Judah sacrificed their children by fire. Thereafter, it was deemed to be cursed.'
The artwork stands 2 meters tall so it was quite shocking, especially for the people in my country which are very religious, reason why the teachers weren't sure how to approach such a theme...
For many years, I have been using the sculpture as a night lamp in my bedroom ), then a few years ago, when I returned home, I have realized that I don't have any photos with it... so taking advantage of the autumn cleaning in my yard, I have set a huge fire around the sculpture to create some context for the art piece. I even begged my mother to let me burn down an old barn the emphasis the mood, but she didn't let me do it.... maybe next year I'll have more luck. )
It was an interesting and delightful event, the whole village gathered around my house with pitchforks, determined to bring justice before God ).. just joking, only a few came out of curiosity, but they are nice and peaceful people...
Anyways, here are some of the photos I took then... I will post more soon with close-ups and other angles.
Hope you enjoy!
