Cathedra Domine

here it is at long last.

Rosy Harray
2006
Cathedra Domine
6m x 8m x 5m high
oxidised steel rod

Artist Statement:

A skeletal frame stands quietly defiant. Branches lick its gothic tracery. The illusive rusted steel retreats into its surrounding. From a distance it could easily be overlooked, as it forces no contention. A drawing in space it breaks boundaries of solidity and ethereality. There is nowhere to stand and passively look at the whole, and its not until one is close to it that is emerges from space. It is in the experience of walking through it where the encounter of the work takes place.

A critical look at the state of Christianity. I am dealing with stereotypes that exist with the label ‘Christian’ because of conventions that have been established in the church over history. Wanting to undo some of these conventions by exposing the hierarchal, hypocritical and political systems that are found within the architecture and religiosity of Christianity. I have taken the architectural structure of the medieval cathedral, as a symbol for Christianity; it provides a base for the conceptual symbolism in my work to stem from.

The word cathedral derives from the Greek word cathedra; this translates as seat. It refers to the presence of the bishop’s chair or throne. This is the first relevant hierarchy found in this system. The seat marks the place set aside in the prominent church of the diocese[1] for the head of that diocese and is a major symbol of authority. It is an indication of power within the institution that displaces God from his own throne.

I have removed all the peripheral structures of the Catholic cathedral by discarding all the statues, alters to saints, side chapels, the confessional; things that indicate a hierarchy to reach God. In medieval cathedrals, excess is the key. These magnificent cathedrals that are said to have been built to honour God were most often done at the expense and spiritual manipulation of the people. I’ve taken away the excessive display of wealth where material wealth was an indication of spiritual wealth, and I’ve constructed a space that is a more ‘personal’ size.

The skeleton framework is a way of ‘taking down the walls’ of the church. To strip back the excessiveness, expose it and provide a transparency that makes it vulnerable. A transparent church does several things; most inherently it has the capacity to contain light. A church that has transparent walls allows the people on the outside to see in and provide accountabilty. This deals with issues of hypocrisy that arise when the church hides behind their religion, to conceal their corruption or to justify the things they do. A church without walls keeps those inside the church aware of what is happening outside. Sometimes those inside religion become unaware of the reality that is happening outside them.

The cathedral is a structure that is solid yet ethereal it has the ability to speak of the abstract concepts of light and transparency, but also of darkness and solidity. It is through a gothic framework that I can place this contradiction. The gothic as a genre, appeals to the mysterious and what is unknown; it is a fine balance of oppositions. It shows ‘the ugliness’ and ‘the beauty’ of things that appeal to the irrational. It has the ability to go against logic, which is exactly what the realm of the spiritual is. It deals with the liminal, the place that is between what is physical and what is spiritual. The seen and unseen.

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[1] The district or churches under the jurisdiction of a bishop