The Most Holy Redeemer (2016)
173 East 3rd Street
New York, NY
In 2016, I convinced a Catholic church in the East Village to let me put sculptures in the empty niches on the facade, after continually noticing the voids. The project was partially conceived as an institutional critique, since I have no religious affinity, and partially because I simply wanted to see the spaces filled with something. The sculptures were installed until 2020, when I received an email from a neighbor of the church informing me a new pastor had taken over and proceeded to demolish the concrete sculptures.
I thought it was ironic for a priest to order the destruction of Mary, however blasphemous the representation. Thinking maybe God noticed my lack of faith, I didn’t plan to do anything about it. But when my 93-year-old Catholic grandma heard the news, she insisted I write the Cardinal. In the end, I was compensated for the destroyed sculptures since I had a contract with the church to remove them if unwanted.
This project was part of my undergrad thesis and was my first attempt at public sculpture. I continue to imagine what new sculptures can fill the many architectural voids in cities around the world.
