18’ 09’’ 10 (Fat to Ashes), 2023

Pauline Curnier Jardin, 18’ 09’’ 10 (Fat to Ashes), 2023; Bas relief in glazed ceramic; 72 × 94 × 10 cm

Photo by Gert Jan Van Rooij

Originally show at the artist’s solo exhibition Hot Flowers & Warm Fingers at Central Museum in Utrecht, this series of bas-reliefs depicting scenes from Pauline Curnier Jardin’s video works like Explosion Ma Baby (2023) and Fat to ashes (2022) about Catholic traditions and rituals.

Bas-reliefs have been used in art since Ancient Egypt and later gained their association with classical and religious art in Europe, making it a rich medium for Curnier Jardin. She is known to work with unique representational logic, which becomes clear when the individual bas-reliefs are combined with motifs such as candles and ephemera of religious altars. The votive candle stands presented alongside them continue visual and narrative complexity within the bas-relief, blurring the boundaries between film and stills, sculpture and installation.