Redemption by Sigrid Amores

Redemption is a project that includes 19 large-format paintings and narrates the experience and overcoming of a mourning. This exhibition reflects both the spiritual and earthly search for salvation through a feminist, critical and Gnostic vision of canonical Christianity.

Starting from the Gospel of Mary Magdalene, this exhibition immerses us in a pictorial representation of the Passion of Christ. It is within this framework that the painter analyzes and criticizes the church and the role of women in it through the figure and writings of Mary Magdalene.

The Gospel of Mary was one of the sacred texts found in the Egyptian town of Nag Hammadi in 1945. This is the only gospel written by a woman that is known to date. María Magdalena, according to various sacred texts such as the Gospel of Philip or Thomas, was the dearest and closest disciple to Jesus and the one who knew how to interpret his words with greater certainty.

According to the María codex, the words of Jesus are far removed from what we know today as Catholic Christianity. It teaches us a much more spiritual message where we are all one with nature and with being. One of the chapters of the apocryphal text of Maria is the ascension to the soul, where much of the exposition is centered. In this chapter, Mary narrates the ascension of the soul, which we can interpret as the salvation of the soul.

Working with large formats that can immerse the viewer in the common thread of the exhibition, and with the visual help of the narrative of the Passion of Christ, this exhibition offers us an illustrated narration of the search for light through shadows. Leaning on this framework, it tells us about betrayal, pain and sorrow. And in turn, both parallel to—and in opposition to—the analysis of these feelings, the artist works on other issues such as the struggle for personal transformation, overcoming and the search for freedom. Making this exhibition a firm note of hope in the face of the coming sorrows of life.

Redemption is the escape from where you don’t want to be, the search for love and the path to self- improvement. The struggle through sorrow and despair when all is lost.

A light in the dark.

About the artist

Sigrid Amores, Barcelona, 1989, is a painter and muralist, studied at l’Escola d’Arts i Superior de disseny in Vic and, in 2014, moved to Escola Massana in Barcelona.

She works with multiple techniques, among which oil painting, acrylic painting and drawing. Her artistic work focuses on the representation of feelings and everyday moments through its own symbolism linked to her personal experiences and the current socio- political context. The search for balance through the archetype of the shadow as a bridge to find light, the duality between feelings and the constant struggle linked to the gender and class that inhabit it are the main pillars of her pictorial work.

Her art is crossed by the shadow theory of Carl Jung, who stated that it represents the dark side of the personality of each human being. According to Jung, by working and knowing this same shadow that inhabits us, we will find the path that leads us to the light. Thus her painting is surrounded mostly by darkness. Darkness that is complemented by some light areas, which is where the importance of the message resides in most of her works. The representation of both everyday and intimate moments and feelings guide us to their reality. In this way, the duality between the earthly of everyday life and the intangible of feelings is created. This duality is present in all her works, where the constant struggle between the outside and the inside is sought, or, in other words, between the conscious and the subconscious.

Sigrid Amores’ paintings are dark and generally stark. The darkness of her strokes is enveloped by a poetic atmosphere, often broken by the textures, the tearing of the fabric and the impulsive brushstroke.

She has participated in several national and international collective exhibitions such as Femmes Vandales (Berlin-Barcelona) or the International Contemporary Art Fair in Lucca, Italy, as well as in Madrid, Barcelona or Gijón (Spain).

She also worked as a painter and artistic director in the already dissolved Barcelona music band, Homes Llúdriga . At this time she made numerous live paintings on stage. She has performed at festivals such as Cruïlla Barcelona, Bioritme Festival, BAM in Barcelona and in different Catalan cities, as well as in Andorra, Valencia and Mallorca.

Exhibition