Cult of Relics

Cult of Relics is a reliquary housing objects derived from the natural world. Drawing inspiration from religious artifacts of the same name that were prevalent during the Romanesque era in Europe, this one-of-a-kind work calls into question what we as humans choose to venerate and preserve by imbuing these transitory forms with the same significance generally reserved for objects of religious or spiritual importance. Each unique object was collected during a three month stay in Italy in early winter, 2015. Objects were then wrapped in handmade abaca to not only preserve their form from decay, but to mirror the texture and pallor of religious artifacts from the historic era.

Handmade abaca, ink, cloth, board
One-of-a-kind
2015

Collection

Cult of Relics is housed in the Environmental Design Library at UC Berkeley.

Read more about Cult of Relics in a featured blog here.