Kathrin Schlegel examined the omnipresence and ambiguities of religion in Curacao’s everyday life during a three-month residency at Instituto Buena Bista in Willemstad. This resulted in two site-specific and context-inspired works. At the gate of Santa Maria cemetery in central Willemstad she restored a badly damaged statue of one of the two angels, transforming it into an immaculate mono-winged angel. Schlegel added the missing arm, replaced the lost trumpet with a shiny new one made of chrome and fixed the damage to the angel’s back. The only imperfection she left untouched, was the missing second wing. On the outskirts of town, at Brievengat, Schlegel came across a final resting place for people who were not allowed to find peace at the church cemetery: criminals, illegal immigrants, have-nots, and people who took their own lives. The overgrown graveyard, without any decoration or holy effigies that are common throughout the Caribbean, is filled with nameless deceased, whose graves are only identifiable by numbers. Schlegel crafted a copy of God’s imperfect messenger and positioned it in this otherwise very bleak resting place for the departed outcasts of society. At the push of a button, the angel’s solar powered trumpet sounds.
Mono-Winged Angel