Safe and sour, 2004

wood, lacquer, nest, fibre, cotton
20 x 120 x 77,5 cm

Note / Safe and sour also came about as a result of Con vista al celestiale in Syracuse. As a memento mori, this sculpture refers to Vanitas paintings and above all to the devout life of Santa Lucia. Van Warmerdam associates the cotton wool-lined bird’s nest with the idea that a soft bed awaits Lucia in heaven. On responding to the legend of the martyr Santa Lucia, she says, ‘In my work I quite often react to places or the people in charge of the venue. Marlene often does the same on a historical level. So it was natural for us to dedicate our joint exhibition to the history of Syracuse, i.e. the local and the universal were brought together.’