May 29, 2014

Coronas Magnas Reginae Caeli, by Jacqueline Treloar

Margot Linken

Exhibit continues until August 15

Open to the public Monday to Friday 11 AM to 3 PM & Sundays 8 AM to 4PM (services and activities throughout the day)

Jacqueline Treloar’s “Great Crowns for the Queen of Heaven” is an ongoing, multi-segmented project. Treloar’s fascination with the crowned statues of the Virgin Mary has evolved from her years living in the inner city of Palermo where religious processions and festivities are a part of the fabric of the city. Her Coronas Magnas Reginae Caeli series is inspired by the Vergine Maria Del Monte Carmelo in the church of Carmine Maggiore, Palermo, Sicily and the wonderfully exuberant crowns worn by the Mary Queen of Heaven statues in southern Spain.

Traditionally, a crown represents legitimacy, triumph, power, glory or immortality. Not only does it make a person optically taller, but also it announces that this person is endowed with superior virtues, skills, and potentially god-like qualities. A crown protects and alienates.

It is not by accident, that Treloar has chosen this utmost symbol of institutionalized superiority to be the carrier of the most personal and intimate confession possible. We are not intimidated by priceless wealth of gems, pearls and gold any more. Instead, we are exposed to memories of spinning carousels, flea markets, family reunions, birthday celebrations, toys, trinkets, treasure chests and treasured memories. By incorporating images of her own friends and family members, Treloar inverts the crown’s untouchable sacredness into a vulnerable personal statement, which communicates universal concepts of human experience such as birth and death, aging and dependency as well as and the strength of family bonds and social relationships.

The upcoming installation consists of a set of four 5 ft diameter, hanging, elaborately festive crowns each representing a season of life and of nature, are suspended from the ceiling of the Church of the Holy Trinity in Toronto from May 24 to June 15 and encompass the city’s Doors Open program on May 24 and 25, 2014. The Four smaller 16 x 12” crowns based on that of Constance of Aragon in Palermo’s Cathedral are the precedents for the much larger crowns and stand beside them. The crowns are accompanied by four 10 ft sq net and nylon panels representing the magnificent Benedictine Monreale Cathedral cloister located on the hills outside of Palermo. The inlaid mosaic patterning in the cloister columns is transformed by stencils, transfers and beading into messages and cards from dear friends and loved ones.

Elements used: fabrics, findings, heat transfers, stencilling, stitching, beading