The afterlife of Catholic images: collapsing forward

Maria’s work looks at how Catholic heritage haunts contemporary, secular imagery. This research-practice rests heavily on Aby Warburg’s approach, in order to invite images to dialogue with each other through intuitive juxtaposition, and suggest a Pathosformel (formula of emotion). In this vein, she is investigating physical and metaphorical collapse (from Latin, “falling together”; referring to the bodily, architectural, systemic). Borrowing the Warburgian Denkraum concept (thinking room), the enquiry grows into how the negative space left by the collapsing figure potentially reveals an opportunity-room for reflection (from Latin, to bounce back light, to bend backwards, and to think). Has a collapsed god left a hole inside ourselves? If so, how can we fulfil this space?