Memento Vivere
2022
Marble souvenir figures, plastic anatomical toy parts, qlue
Each piece approximately 24cm x 8cm x 8cm
Kuopio Art Museum Collection (2nd piece of work)
The series of reworked souvenir statues is inspired by the tradition of anatomical Venus wax figures. It explores the connections between images from the history of medicine and images from the history of art.
Anatomical Venus wax figures were first made in Italy during the 18th century. These figures were used to teach anatomy to the general public and were moulded in forms inspired by portrayals of Venus in the visual arts. They were beautiful, passive figures, placed lying on silk. Their beauty was intended to distract people from thoughts of death while learning anatomy.
The wax Venuses were also memento mori objects, so the starting point for these reworked souvenir statues was to transform them into memento mori icons. Eventually, however, they became more like gentle memento vivere icons, reflecting life rather than death.