News — art
Fabric and paper
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Sacred Heart with Thorns Nicho Altar Ornament
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Hand-cut, hammered, and shaped ornament is made with reclaimed tinplate framing this tiny print reproduction of an antique holy card featuring the Sacred Heart. After filing and sanding sharp corners and edges, I embellished it from my stash of vintage, antique, and/or reclaimed fabrics, metals, beads, and trims, including resin rhinestones, vintage lace, a satin rose, a vintage plastic faceted heart charm in a brass frame, and a tiny little curl of dried vine for the crown of thorns. Available at Seraphin Station.
Hanging Tree Guitars
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Artist Freeman Vines on the guitars he creates and the wood he makes them with: “The wood, actually everything, is involved spiritually. A little spirit rubs off on everything.” Read more — and you should, you should click through and read the whole thing — at Atlas Obscura, “A North Carolina Artist’s Search for a Lost Sound Uncovered a Dark History,” by Winnie Lee.
Why Santa Muerte and Jesus Malverde Are Not Just “Narco Saints”
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I can’t count the number of references I’ve seen over the past 15 or so years to Santa Muerte being a “narco saint,” with the implication (or even the straight-up assertion) that she’s a saint for drug dealers, boom, like that’s the whole picture. This kind of statement is incredibly reductionist and oversimplified. It ignores nuance, never mind facts, and it betrays a lack of respect for the (sub)culture(s) from which she springs and a total lack of concern for understanding folk religion – in Mexico or in general. Seriously, it’s insulting and dismissive even if you *are* a drug...
Quick Little Catholic Iconography Lesson
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Ok, the Pinterest Pedant strikes again. Mary does not have a Sacred Heart. Mary has an Immaculate Heart. This is the Immaculate Heart of Mary: sword, flames, roses. No thorns. This is the Sacred Heart. Only Jesus has a Sacred Heart. Thorns, not roses. Pierced, but with a spear, not a sword. Flames but note the cross in the midst of them. Occasionally the Sacred Heart will be pierced by an arrow instead. This has to do with an idea that we wound Christ with blasphemy and profaning the Sabbath. The Golden Arrow Prayer said in reparation is said to...