This moving-image installation, situated within an immersive spatial setup, invites the audience to contemplate on the moments after death, the journey of the soul, and its ultimate destination commonly known as heaven or hell.
The video, a compilation of diverse depictions of the afterlife, draws inspiration from Dadaism and its unconventional approach to traditions and conventions. Much like the Dadaists, my aim is to deconstruct well-known concepts and present them in a deliberately absurd manner. I have gathered portrayals of the afterlife from a broad spectrum of cultures and religions, and exhibited them in a confusing, yet intriguing and captivating way.
Through this installation, my intention is to create a thought-provoking and imaginative piece that motivates viewers to question what they are seeing and hearing. I hope to encourage them to delve deeper, searching for familiar symbols and images presented in a twisted and distorted way. In doing so, I wish to create a visual reference to the concept of the afterlife—something not easily understood, confusing, a collage of various influences and religions. This abstract artwork, offering a sense of freedom, yet simultaneously evoking fear and mystery, ultimately generates more questions than answers.
List of sources:
The Last Judgment Michelangelo 1536–1541
The Map of Hell Botticelli ca. 1480 and 1490
The Fall of the Damned Peter Paul Rubens 1620
Mouth of Hell; Final Absolution Master of Catherine of Cleves ca. 1440
The Beast Acheron Simon Marmion 1475
Elysian Fields Arthur B. Davies before 1928
Vishnu as Vishvarupa, painter unknown ca. 1800-1820 probably done in Jaipur, Rajasthan
Śmierć każdego ułagodzi Marian Wawrzeniecki 1898
Garden of Earthly Delights Hieronymus Bosch 1490–1500
Dante and Virgil William-Adolphe Bouguereau 1850
The Inferno, Canto 21, Gustave Doré 1861
Vanitas Juan de Valdés Leal 1660
Inferno Franz von Stuck 1908
Ophelia Sir John Everett Millais 1851–52
Paradiso, Canto 34 Gustave Doré 1868
An illustrated double-sided bifolium from the nahj al-faradis: the two hells reserved for misers and flatterers commissioned by sultan abu sa’id gurkan, timurid herat, ca. 1465
Papyrus of Ani unknown c. 1250 BCE
The installation was shown in OX Space, Rotterdam as a part of collaborative exhibition Soulful Curation: A Care Odyssey made as a project for Autonomous Practice in Willem de Kooning Academy.
