XXX-tasy ( Sculpted in wood and wax ) 

This is based on what is undoubtedly the lewdest religious artwork in western art, Bernini’s “Ecstasy of St. Theresa”. It commemorates said event from her diary which describes an angel of the Lord standing over her with a flaming golden spear “…and as he plunged it into me , I was filled with the greatest pain but also the utmost pleasure. It was the sweetest caressing of the soul by God.” Uh-huh…In the original, of course there was a cupid-like angel with a spear. But for my purposes, I substituted the ultimate symbolic male version of ecstatic experience as embodied in the lewdest public monument in the U.S., the Flag Raising on Iwo Jima.  The common thread in choosing to combine these two seemingly disparate icons is that both serve as barely subliminal recruiting tools for their sponsoring organizations, thereby legitimizing what might otherwise be perceived as having erotic overtones. One recruits the spiritual nature with the lure of swooning ecstasy, the other appeals to the aggressive instincts with a macho vision of victory and glory.

---