Miracle Ma Baby, 2023

Miracle Ma Baby, 2023, Candleholder, candles, wax and coins, Candleholder dimensions: 102 × 82 × 38 cm (40 ⅛ × 32 ¼ × 15 inches), 60 candles: 40 cm ø 2 cm

Originally featured in Curnier Jardin’s solo exhibition Hot Flowers & Warm Fingers at the Central Museum in Utrecht, this votive candle stand was placed before a bas-relief showing garlands of cash. A still from the artist’s film Explosion Ma Baby (2023), which explores Catholic rituals, the bas-relief and the film as a whole reimagine the St. Sebastian festival in Sicily, emphasizing the extravagance of Catholic rituals.

The film shows the blessing of naked babies who are presented to the statue of St. Sebastian clad only in a loincloth, accompanied by chaotic sound and spectacle. One of these infants is replicated on the candle stand’s tray, where it becomes a focal point—subjected to the slow, ritualistic drip of hot wax from a firework-like array of candles burning above it.

Curnier Jardin’s work is known for its distinctive representational logic, which confronts Western notions of collective devotion. The votive candle stand not only extends the intricate visual language of her film but also draws attention to the transactional nature of religious offerings.