PHILADELPHIA.- On the heels of fall’s Tesoros: The Arts in Latin America, 1492–1820 at the Philadelphia Museum of Art, over 60 crafts students at The University of the Arts (UArts) have taken centuries old Colonial Mexican artifacts and transformed them into personal creations of mystery and beauty for the exhibition Misterios. The University hosts a one-day public exhibition of this work on April 25-26 from 10 a.m. – 4 p.m., in Solmssen Court of Hamilton Hall (320 S. Broad St.).

UArts President and native of Mexico Miguel Angel Corzo donated the artifacts, ranging from keys to glassworks, from porcelain and wooden religious figurines to coins and cups. The pieces hearken back to a time of Spanish conquest when the “Natives” were to be converted to Christianity and compelled to become “civilized” for benefit of the Spanish and the colonial system. It was against this backdrop of religious zealotry that students based their work. Misterios is a powerful experiment illustrating how art can bridge the gap between Colonial Mexican and contemporary American society. For many, it was a life-altering experience.

Under the guidance of Crafts Professors Sharon Church and Rod McCormick, students studied the Tesoros pieces at the Museum, pored through books and catalogues and examined the history of the colonization of Mexico. Many students used a 3-D laser scanner and printer to create digital replicas of the artifacts in acrylic plastic. Others integrated the original artifacts into their crafts. The results varied to include vases, urns, picture frames, altars, candles, brooches, jewelry and cabinetry. The results varied to include vases, urns, picture frames, altars, candles, brooches, jewelry and cabinetry, among others.

The students developed art that reflected their own interpretation of the specific artifact they chose. Not just an “assignment,” this project was viewed by the students as a personal voyage of spirituality discovery, an exercise in identifying their own ideas of religion.

“I have always admired much Christian art for its expressiveness and depth,” said Chase Brown who was inspired by a bust of Jesus Christ and crafted a Crown of Thorns. “But I had never found any personal connection to it. Not being a religious person, I view religion from an outsider’s perspective. With that said, I had to ask myself what the crown of thorns represents to others, since I have never considered any significance to myself.”

Inspired by an artifact depicting Jesus Christ and the Sacred Heart, Alex Irvine created The Christ of Reconciliation, a ceramic life-sized version of Jesus kneeling with an obsidian knife in one hand, his heart in the other and an eight-inch gash in his chest.

“This explains a synthesis of divine concepts in visual terms; Christ is a man, yet omnipresent, sacrificing Himself for the sake of the viewer standing before Him,” Irvine said. “Christ is holding an obsidian knife, traditionally used by Aztec priests to cut the hearts out of sacrificial victims. The wound creates a window into the cosmos created within Him. This space pierced by light simultaneously represents the fundamental significance of the Messiah’s resurrection in Christianity and the cyclical rebirth of the universe in Aztec cosmology.

“The wounds of the crucifixion are present upon Christ’s body as he performs this action to reconcile the foreign idea of Himself within a new cultural context. One can see the icon of the Sacred Heart split into its two primal counterparts to be reborn in a new symbol made flesh.”

Mary O’Malley chose to contrast Mexican (“celebratory”) and Victorian (“dour”) views on death. Inspired by a plaster miniature cast of a deceased child’s face, O’Malley created an urn of Victorian sensibilities. The cherubic face rests in an alcove of the vessel’s belly. The interior is meant to contain this child’s remains, while the exterior is meant to help people remember this loved one’s stunted existence.

The Victorian aesthetic of the vessel is meant to keep the piece’s language formal as it communicates a difficult and sometimes uncomfortable subject matter for most,” she said. “The bizarre juxtaposition of Mexican and Victorian cultures gives the piece its unique stature and power.”

“This was a unique educational opportunity to challenge our students to reach beyond the University to the museum and to a centuries old culture through their own creative work,” said Crafts Professor Sharon Church. “Across the board, our students extended beyond their previous capacities to create something extraordinary.”

Main Line stage production guru Hiroshi Iwasaki is setting the stage for the exhibition, transforming wide open space of Solmssen Court (where most of the UArts administrative offices reside) into a serenity temple, complete with sand-surrounded reflecting pool, elaborate lighting involving votive candles and custom built lighting stands and three-story cascading rich red fabrics.