THE SIN-EATERS
The Sin-eaters
2023
A series of 9 individual papier-mache sculpted heads made of old journals, with knitted mini-balaclavas, pearl-embroidery, plus scraps from beauty-magazines and self-portraits, each measuring ca 13 x 7 cm.
Historically, a sin-eater is a person who consumes a ritual meal in order to spiritually take on the sins of a deceased person:
The food was believed to absorb the sins of a recently dead person, thus absolving the soul of the person. Sin-eaters, as a consequence, carried the sins of all those people whose sins they had eaten; they were usually feared and shunned.
Cultural anthropologists and folklorists classify sin-eating as a form of ritual. It is most commonly associated with Scotland, Ireland, Wales, English counties bordering Wales, and Welsh culture. While there have been analogous instances of sin-eaters throughout history, the questions of how common the practice was, when it was practiced, and what the interactions between sin-eaters, common people, and religious authorities were remain largely unstudied by folklore academics.
In Meso-American civilisation, Tlazolteotl, the Aztec goddess of vice, purification, steam baths, lust and filth, and a patroness of adulterers (her name literally means `Sacred Filth`), had a redemptive role in religious practices. At the end of an individual’s live, they were allowed to confess misdeeds to this deity, and according to legend she would cleanse the soul by “eating its filth”. In wider Christian practice, Jesus of Nazareth has been interpreted as a universal archetype for sin-eaters, offering his life to atone or purify all of humanity of their sins”.
From the top
1: Pearly Whites (pink balaclava with pearls)
2: Tied up (orange balaclava with pearls and red string)
3: Pretty in Pink (pink balaclava)
4: Vertigo (orange and purple balaclava with pearls)
5: Tiger Tiger (orange and pink balaclava)
450,- per piece
Use discount code "PICKUP" if you are able to collect your order locally in Oslo, at Street Art Oslo, Helgesens gate 46
