Temple, 1995

Plaster, acrylic – 460 x 415 x 80 mm

Temple, an acrylic-painted cast plaster relief and part of the Tardigrades cycle, envisions the body and instinct as a temple of consciousness, drawing on the symbolic language of medieval sacred architecture. The composition of four figures is proportioned according to the inner spatial logic of historical church interiors. The naked, genderless, amorphous bodies appear as timeless existences – material principles suspended beyond individuality. The complete absence of background enhances a sense of spatial exile and sacral abstraction.

The central figure’s outstretched arms evoke the crucified Christ, while the elongated vertical form recalls a church tower. At its feet crouches a figure interpreted as an allegory of the feminine principle – a vision of the Virgin – positioned in the composition as the portal of the temple. The two outer figures represent both humanity and the enclosing walls of the sacred space: one turns toward the center, the other away – an expression of humankind’s ambivalent relationship to the transcendent.

The relief’s expressive materiality, the distortion of the figures, and its dark, almost muddy color palett – matte black, greyish green, and earthy tones – suffuse the scene with dramatic intensity. The work depicts consciousness embodied in the flesh, immersed in the raw materiality of the world, searching for traces of the sacred within the mire.