Nicola Siebert-Patel
How does art reinforce, question or unpick belief?
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My work is iconoclastic, not only holding faiths to task, but our underlying need to create beliefs. Drawing ideas from objects found mostly within recognised faiths which carry metaphorical weight. These objects can vary from stones to prayer beads. I exaggerate the scale, deeming them impractical. An example is creating giant lead prayer beads, which cannot be worn or touched due to the size and is made from poisonous metal.
Much of the time the symbolic subject matter that I choose have been designed to be used by the body, to be worn or touched. They serve as a reminder of the absence or presence of the physical body. These objects have been created as evidence that what we want to believe in really exists.
I try to use appropriation with a touch of irony and underlying humour which I feel is required when dealing with belief as, by its very definition, a belief in something requires no evidence of its existence. The process of making is important to me and whatever form of expression that takes, I try to bring my skill and concern for each stage of development, the journey being as important as the finished product.
What strikes me is the fact that in our society, art has become something which is only related to objects, and not to individuals, or to life.
Michel Foucault
