NOT A PAINTING: EX VOTO ASSEMBLAGE

YOU CAN BUILD AN ASSEMBLAGE WITH HEART

I'm happy to take you through my process, especially since this shrine or construction is very dear to me. I knew and loved a young man who was on the wrong path, wild and a bit rowdy sometimes. He nearly died in a car crash, and was left with head injuries. (He's much better now, many years later, thankfully.)

Here you can see a toy car and small head in the upper part of the photo.

I based this new  assemblage roughly on a
votive offering placed in a church or shrine
as thankfulness for a miracle received.

Mexican retalblos are small oil paintings, generally made
on tin. An ex voto is a votive offering to
a divinity, usually Christian. Read more  about them here:
(click on this link)  https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ex-voto

  Materials I used:

Strong, clear adhesive 

Wooden shelf, picture frame, and small box
Found objects (many are pictured below)
Discarded beads
Acrylic paints: Diox. purple, Quin. red and Quin. gold,
    Mars black, Titanium white, and Ultramarine blue. 

Copper patina

I decided against some of these objects and altered others.

  Traditionally written (usually at the bottom) are inscriptions, names, dates, and stories of miraculous recoveries and escapes. I chose not to do that.
For more history on ex votos and info on modern, current ones, click here:
http://www.mariolinasalvatori.com/understanding-ex-votos/

This might have been where my friend had gone if he had died years ago.

Here's a close-up, below, of the broken, burnt glass that sits below the devil.

I also put rusty barbed wire just below 

that (not too visible, sorry), and again 

where "Hell" ends, just below the car and boy.

Here you can see the beads and the costume jewelry pin.

My recent assemblages might seem a little sinister

to some of you...I mean, Medusa? Now this!

But I have always loved icons and myths.

Have I gone to the dark side? 

What's your opinion? I'd love to know.

Below is a link to a much sillier assemblage

that I created quite a long while ago.

Circus and clown!

BELOW, A FULL VIEW OF THE FINISHED PIECE!

Do you think this is appropriated art? 

I'd love to hear your comments! This was a love project for me, and

I feel I've put my own, original stamp on the artwork. And I didn't include any inscription or a saint although I do have religious elements in the top half of the piece.  (There is also an image you can't see of a saintly figure, in the dark, under the hand.) 
Do you find it too depressing or ominous, with the devil and horns?  

I do need a title for this piece, so if you have a good idea, 

please let me know!

Thanks for viewing this post. I appreciate you.   ---  Paula