Doris Arkin

Embroidered monograms, thread, zinc sheets, 115x150x40 cm.

The work is made up of embroidered monograms, bearing first initials of various names. Embroidered monograms were a symbol of status and wealth, yet they carry not only personal details, but also historical and cultural evidence.
In her Pietà, the artist stitches the monograms together, creating a fabric of sorts.  The monogram's prestigious identity, imprinted with a curly signature, is a witness to an old tale. The entire fabric is laid over two zinc stands - this is the artist's tribute to the famous Pietà scene.

But as you can see in this detail, Arkin's Pietà seems more like an object left behind, cast aside after the protagonists themselves have disappeared. Have they desperately abandoned their centuries-old roles, the mother embracing her crucified son? Or perhaps the mother abandoned her place as the carrier of the dead, after losing her faith in redemption