This series was initially inspired by the depiction of saints in Baroque paintings. I was particularly interested in the representation of ecstasy – the body language and facial expressions used by artists to convey a transcendental experience. The other aspect of these paintings I wanted to explore was the use of objects as symbols of spirituality.
The Christian promise of supreme happiness in the afterlife has a contemporary analogy in the idealised lifestyles promoted to us by modern corporations. Through these pictures, I wanted to represent the unfulfillment of that promise – the collapse of the idea of a capitalist paradise and the decline of its centuries-old, uncontested patriarchal ruling class. Inspired by José de Ribera’s choice of ‘lowlifes’ as models for his religious paintings, I cast middle-aged white men as subjects, staging the portraits in dilapidated interior spaces. Here, the body language that conveyed a mystical experience in classical paintings mutates into the silent screams or desperate mating calls of anonymous, isolated men trapped in a mundane hell, deprived of any spirituality or romance.
The sublime quality of the religious paintings that inspired these photographs has been replaced by a bleak vision that reflects the cultural and material degradation of Western societies. Rather than representing enlightenment, the generic objects and fabrics portrayed in these images reflect the surplus of mass-produced, meaningless stuff that surrounds us.
