Diamond and Pearls, 2014

The most direct vanitas object in the exhibition, Diamond and Pearls draws a relationship between mortality and immortality, the material and the spiritual. To create this work, Wright traveled to Southern Germany to study relics displayed in situ in Catholic churches – human remains deemed to belong to saints and holy figures, marked with all of the pomp and circumstance appropriate to these figures. The golden accessories served as a reminder of the spiritual treasures that awaited the faithful after death.