Ascent

Serrano's mystical photograph 'Ascent' is based largely on Baroque images of religious ecstasy, such as Bernini's sculptural ensemble 'The Ecstasy of St. Theresa' (1645-52) in the Cornaro Chapel in the church of Santa Maria della Vittoria in Rome. The dramatic tension of the image derives from the allusion to mystical drama. Here, as in Bernini's sculpture, religious ecstasy is equivalent with sexual rapture and passion. In speaking about his relationship with religion, Serrano has stated: "There's a lot of irony in my work, but it's not sacrilegious. I've always thought that you feel God inside you; I don't consider myself religious, but I do consider myself spiritual, which is why I'm not an heretic. I have no problem with God; my issue is with the Church, with the dogma and confusion, a perversion of the actual teaching, that seems to have failed Christianity." (In: 'Andres Serrano. Works 1983-1993', Philadelphia 1994, p.100.)