In the House of Augustus Pugin

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Liane Lang’s new series of photographs refer to the stories of Catholic saints and martyrs. Rich chromatic hues, attire and insignia reference their aspects in the history of religious sculpture and painting. Hinting at narratives and patronage, the images oscillate between the macabre and humorous, the beautiful and disturbing, not unlike their medieval forbears. The images were taken mainly in the house of Gothic Victorian architect Augustus Pugin, a house which itself holds many references to saints and was next to Pugin’s lifelong project, a Catholic Church he built himself.

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Lang uses her own life-like dolls made in the studio, to create the scenes, locating the images closer to sculpture. Lang’s interest in the history and use of sculpture here references the special powers ascribed to religious objects, occupying a delicate position between representation and embodiment. The relationship to the body, particularly the female body, make the story of martyr saints a rich source of feminist material.

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Examples include St Margareth, who escapes from the belly of the dragon to become the patron of pregnant mothers, Vitus, boiled in hot oil, becomes the patron of dancers and Barbara, locked in a tower by her father, the protector of architects. Lang invites the viewer to revisit these narratives and appreciate them from a fresh perspective as a rich source of understanding the power and poetry of the irrational and the symbolic.