MARY O'MALLEY
Syncretism is the reconciliation or fusion of differing systems of belief, as in philosophy or religion, especially when success is partial or the result is heterogeneous. Examples include the appropriation of ancient Celtic pagan traditions by the Roman Catholic church as well as neo-paganism - a conglomerate religion which returns to ancient pagan rites. Manifestations of this exist in the Christmas Trees, The Easter Bunny, Ground Hog’s Day, etc.
Reliquary is an exhibition of syncretic artifacts produced during the artist’s experience of processing traumatic life events, both personal and globally shared, which brought to light a loss of connection with communal religion, the resulting nostalgia from this loss, and the search for new tools of catharsis. The pieces reflect the artist’s period of syncretic transition from rituals learned from an unbroken line of devout Irish Catholicism, to her and her generation’s development of new spiritual practices. The works included in this show, Stations and Mosaic, imbue nostalgia for the iconography of the Catholic church, imagery from the 2020 lockdown captured by the artist’s phone, and representations of cyclical aspects of nature that act as timestamps and visual comfort. Included are aesthetic references to the mid century ecclesiastical architecture of the artist’s grandfather, John J. O’Malley, who built over 150 buildings for the Catholic Diocese across the five boroughs of New York City.
Additionally, the work explores the dissonance in relationships between one’s self and the larger contexts we exist within. For example, a pandemic-stricken global population coming to a screeching halt, loosened from its daily rituals but finding catharsis in nature’s unrelenting progression despite our isolated experiences in suspended animation. Our spiritual lives—our identities—are acts of institutional-individual syncretism. The artist’s syncretic return to nature-based ritual and practice is a detangling of ancient Celtic paganism from Irish Catholicism, with contemporary context. Yet, she has discovered that, in times of adversity, even the constituent trappings of religious practice—iconography, ritual, place—retain potent cathartic power.
This transitional process has an inevitable element of nihilism - a family of views within philosophy that rejects generally accepted or fundamental aspects of human existence. Contrary to popular understanding, Niestzche’s definition of active nihilism was that of an act of courage in the face of restrictive orthodoxy, an obliteration of meaning which was itself required for the creation of something new The Nihilism Tiles are the products of defiant creative action, incorporating the religious iconography that permeates the show in their rawest form.
Reliquary is the repository of a personal liturgy.
This exhibition was made possible by Wesleyan College, The Knight Foundation, The McEachern Art Center, and Mercer University