Penance

Penance, 2014 is a contemplation on pain and suffering by the late Filipino artist Gabriel Barredo, following the death of his own mother from a long illness. Known for his pioneering kinetic sculptures, Barredo offers a flayed and crucified figure to interrogate the Christian notion of redemptive suffering; that is, in experiencing earthly suffering, believers become more united to the saving power of Jesus’ passion and death.

In this sculpture, the figure’s face is obscured by an animal skull attached with metal grips and its heart is held at knife-point on two sides. Barredo’s bricolage of found objects such dolls heads, resin skulls, shells, metal tools and paper cutouts, has been arranged to suggest the body’s inner workings of flesh, sinews, and veins. The figure’s presence is both repulsive and intriguing, and the rhythmic  movement of the heart in its breast showcases Barredo’s penchant for theatricality to its full effect. In fusing the macabre and the sublime, the sacred and the profane, Penance is an invitation to confront the lines that connect pain and suffering or separate life and death.