death and the maiden: part one

skeleton from Colleen Allen on Vimeo.

Throughout my four years of Catholic high school, there is one issue that has been greatly ignored: the oppression of women in the Catholic Church. The relationship between the Church and women resembles that of my creation of “Death and the Maiden”. Through its obsession with male hierarchy, the Catholic Church doctrine has become death itself, oppressing women who are trapped in the role of the helpless maiden. Catholic authority figures and Church members feel if these roles change, it will jeopardize their chance of life after death. 

Four hundred years ago, when Catholic martyrs died, nuns had to spend up to four years adorning the dead with precious jewels. My reenactment of this four-year labor mirrors my four-year experience at a Catholic high school. The skeleton is a representation of my faith, which I prepare for burial. These rituals started out as a beautiful and positive part of my life, and are represented by the white flowers of innocence and pink flowers of femininity with which I adorn my skeleton. I then wrapped the skeleton in gold twine to symbolize the restrictive teachings of my school as they pushed me to accept their doctrines. In the end, the skeleton takes on an inhuman form, fully overcome by the unnatural golden materials. The organic materials rot, and that which was beautiful becomes decrepit.