Achievement

2016

The portrait sculpture is a painted copy of a 1461 work by Mino Da Fiesole. The original work features a member of a renowned Florentine humanist family, Rinaldo Della Luna. I repainted the exquisitely refined Renaissance portrait in a manner that imparts a nationality and cultural identity distinct from the original. The Arabic letters forming the word "achievement" on the tar-painted pedestal represent the English word "achievement." This serves as both a reference to the individualist worldview of the Renaissance and the motto of my previous work.

The foil enveloping the statue is what's known as an isolation blanket, typically used in crisis situations, such as the Migration crisis of 2015. When the silver side faces outward, it guards against overheating, while with the gold side facing out, it shields against cooling, thus ensuring the preservation of body temperature.

In this installation setting, the portrait evokes the aura of a sacred statue and, simultaneously, provokes inquiries about our humanistic, Eurocentric worldview.