Roman Martyrs

How do you move on from the loss of a loved one? Devastated after the untimely passing of my older brother in 2020, I searched for answers to my questioning faith and comfort for my grief. By fate, I stumbled upon Paul Koudounaris’s Heavenly Bodies: Cult Treasures and Spectacular Saints from the Catacombs and became enthralled with the glittering Roman Martyr Catacomb Saints. I admired the devotion of the nuns who clothed and bejeweled the skeletal remains of Christian martyrs with their own rings and gems. Combining my love of anatomy and sculpture with the ornate, I hand-tailor, embroider, and bead costumes to adorn resin-cast skeletal écorchés, recreating twenty-four-inch Catacomb Saints and emulating the sacrifice of the nuns. Through painting and embroidery, I re-imagine what these saints looked like in life, giving them back their identities and re-christening them after heroic people I have known.