Invisible Reliquaries: Encasing the Past

Not long after Christians made religious pilgrimages to revere sacred relics, mental asylums swung open their doors to the gawking public who for a fee streamed inside to witness something ungodly – the unfortunate suffering of the souls within. Encasing the Pastis about preserving and registering the atrocities of the female asylum experience. These secular relics frame the women’s lives through the martyrdom lens and honor their memory. 

​The asylum remnants are akin to the practice of museums using formaldehyde to preserve specimens for future generations. Like the reliquaries of the past, the institutionalized objects entice the viewer to take a closer look.