OFFERINGS

‘Offerings’ is an examination of the religious image and its paradoxes that prevail today.

This journey through nostalgic and contemporary imagery is rendered in portraits. A religious up-bringing and subsequent suspicion of the role of religion in both politics and the moral control and propaganda, was the motivation to create this project. Observations of priests played by Hollywood actors, the Pope, Christ and present-day extremist icons like Muhammad Atta, are contextual and can be ambiguous.

There is a controversial element in the work, but the closer aim is an attempt to demonstrate with assertion, the paradox of religious reason and role-playing. The examination of religion and its true uses today where symbolic images in the media are confused with attitudes of hatred, suspicion, political misinformation and extremist comment.

'I have considered faith, whether in ambiguous contexts
or imaginary concepts.'

Overall, it has been an attempt at the encapsulation of the bizarre relationship we have with faith and to portray the conceit of religion and a tale in our times on dying in the name of religion – the ultimate deception!

AtticSalt is taking part in the Edinburgh Art Festival 2008