You had less fear of flying, if you stayed at home.

Margarete Hahner
meer 140x200cm 1992

Wandlung 123x61cm 2018

consecration 2020

nuns 61×46 cm 2013

Kirche 76x61cm 2015

churchwitch 57x37cm 2010

seance 61x77cm 2018

Altarpieces

The art work in the churches of the small town of Bamberg in the heart of Germany are early influences. The church’s instructions, beliefs and rituals left her with an interest towards things dark and unknown.Hahner recalls vividly spending a particular sunny summer afternoon in a lush forest close to home. While exploring an area she’d never been through before, she stumbled across some ruins of a former summer residency for nuns. While exploring the remarkable setting, she discovered a small, white porcelain statue of the Virgin Mary, half-buried in the soil. She picked the statue up, hid it under her jacket and brought it home, where she found herself unable to show it to anyone; she felt she’d done something blasphemous. After several sleepless nights worrying about how to adequately care for the relic, she threw it in the trash. The custodial responsibility of owning a holy artifact had been too overwhelming.