The Alb
The final piece of my senior capstone is The Alb
It’s taken some time for me to write about it, partially because I keep meaning to take better photos of it (which I haven't done), and partially because I don’t know what to say. The Alb was born out of a comment from my professor on Communion. She mentioned making relics out of ordinary objects, and when I started thinking about what other objects I could alter, I thought about albs.
The church I attend in my hometown recently replaced their acolyte albs, and was left with the old ones. So I asked for permission to take an old alb, cincture, and acolyte cross during spring break. I brought them to my studio along with scraps of fabric, ribbons, leftover beads, bells, and fabric medium for acrylic paint.
The concept for me was to decorate the alb with images of memories and objects that I associated with growing up in the church. So the first step was to make a list of those memories and objects, which was harder than I thought it would be.
I have issues with memories, it is hard for me to recall most things before my celiac disease diagnosis at age 7. Additionally I feel disconnected from what I do recall, as most of my memories are in third person. So when I had to make a list of things, it took longer than anticipated. Yet I was able to start work on the Alb on March 28, 2024. It was finished on April 9th, meaning It was completed outside of classes in about two weeks, with only two days to spare before the capstone exhibition.
I began with the dove on the front, in fact the dove is the only thing I drew out beforehand onto the alb. Above it is the roof of my church, with the opening to the steeple. Together these two images represents three things:
The dove kite an acolyte flies on a pole over the congregation every Pentecost.
My curiosity as a child to if a bird lived in the steeple, and daydreaming about what would happen if a bird flew down.
The reality that when we first looked at the new building on our church campus during its construction, a dove did in fact fly in.
Much of the images on The Alb have similar double meanings. And while the ribbons on the back (meant to echo emotions of joy along with wedding dress trains) were put on mostly haphazardly without much meaning, everything else was extremely purposeful. A breakdown of the images will be posted to my Instagram later.
It is a precious piece to me, and is intended to be both displayed and worn. I do not want it to live it’s life purely in a closet or box. I hope it brings positive emotions to anyone who looks at it, and I also hope that for those who have been hurt by the church that it is not threatening.
May my memories continue to grow
In peace,
Xi
