Object History

Object History

The statue was a gift to me from my twin brothers on my 12th birthday while we were still living in Colombia. The statue Maria Auxilidadora is the namesake of the school that I attended in from kindergarden to grade 3. Religious statues/art in my household is an incredibly common object; my mother a devoted Catholic would encourage the possession of any religious forms. Form rosaries, painting, statues, rings, clothing and most importantly spiritual awareness of the religious.

Ownership of the statue has change significantly over time; when I first received it I was exited to have it as one of my possessions. I made an effort to remember that special day that I glued at the bottom a blank piece of paper where I wrote “From: Juan David and Francisco, To: Catalina on April 2001…In Colombia”. Upon receiving the statue I would pray to in a normal basis but that changed, as I got older. In June of that year my family and I migrated to Canada and the statue traveled with us. After some years in Canada I forgot about the statue, it was moved from my room to my siblings then to my mother’s room. We have moved a couple of times in Canada our last move to Toronto was a year ago, at this time the statue was placed in my room. Before this date I cannot remember associating or interacting with the statue, as I’m getting older I don’t pray as much as I did, especially to a statue now the idea of praying to a statue does not come as easily as it did. My impression of the statue has not changed in the way I view it kindly, every time I think of it remember my home in Colombia, good times at my old school, friends, and family. What has changed, as been my spiritual connections to religious beliefs, which are reflect to the disconnection and to praying to the statue of the Virgin Mary. The current use of the statue is to stay in corner of my room, it relates to the uses of the past because the statue has always been positioned in the same way. It has changed as I mentioned before, because it is not as acknowledged as it once did.