Tabernacle (Autoportrait)
Tabernacle (Self-portrait)
Gloria Li Mir
1976
Acrylic on canvas stretched on wood
90 cm x 100 cm
Gloria Li Mir’s “Tabernacle” reminds a white window, with two shutters which could be opened. Though, doing this, there are two new smaller blinds with a relief pattern. Behind them, one finds a round mirror, which is framed by a bulge. Under it, there is a horizontal lenticular form with a smaller diameter than the mirror. It is also only an elevation from the white canvas. Two threads descend from it, slightly slanting to the left. Besides the mirror, the entire Tabernacle is white.
Already the title “Tabernacle” refers to the character of the artwork. In the catholic tradition a Tabernacle is a locked box to store the Eucharist (consecrated communion hosts). Throughout history, its form and position changed. Nevertheless, one possible design is similar to Gloria’s Tabernacle, a rectangle cabinet with doors. Beside the purpose of protecting the holy sacrament, it is a place of adoration and contemplation.
Instead of the preserved Eucharist, there is a mirror in Goria’s Tabernacle. Thus, in opening the shrine, the beholder faces themself. This already implies the supplemental title “Self-portrait”. This could be meant as a simple invitation to self-reflection, but also a solicitation to self-awareness, or an encouragement to attain self-confidence. Moreover, the replacement of the holy sacrament with a mirror could be a reflexion on society, where the cult of the individuum has replaced the ancient faiths.
Traditionally, the Tabernacle is richly decorated and manufactured in precious materials. On the contrary, Gloria’s Tabernacle is simply in white. Regarding Gloria’s oeuvre, this is not surprising, because most of her works since 1969 are mainly in this (non-) colour. White allows to reflect the permanently changing light incidence. Moreover, she introduced movable elements in her creations to extend the variations of the play of light. The shutters of the Tabernacle assume this role. Hence, it is also decorated by light reflexion. Light is often a prominent in mythology and religion. Particularly in the baroque it was important to represent divinity. In consequence, it gives a transcendent radiance to Gloria’s Tabernacle.
Additionally, the relief on the second shutter and the elevations around the mirror, the lenticular form under it and the threads could have the same purpose: increase the surfaces, where the light could be refracted. Therefore, bulges and threads are also recurring in Gloria’s oeuvre. The elevations are made by repoussage. Gloria developed this technique in following a traditional Latin-American practice in metal working. She stretched the canvas on a wooden panel. Once attained the desired shape, she underlaid it with cotton wool to stabilise it. In adapting a method of traditional goldsmithing, she underlines the value of the oeuvre. The ornamentation on the second shutter, and around the mirror might accentuate the significance of the interior.
Regarding the lenticular form with its threads, another glance to the art of the baroque or freemasonry might be helpful. It could be a stylised eye, with rays emanating from it. If so, it would symbolise the Eye of Providence. In the Jewish and Christian religion, it stands for the omnipresence of God. More secular, in the freemasonry it represents the truth, which is always revealing itself, the request for wisdom and appeals to the conscience.
This interpretation might be backed by the presence of the mirror. Even though, the mirror could symbolise vanity, it also stands for truth, wisdom and self-knowledge. Furthermore, in mythology and religion it represents life or soul. In Gloria’s oeuvre, there are sometimes mirrors, but mostly to highlight the works themselves or to reflect the space around. This suits to her statement that she wanted to observe the surrounding world but also invited the contemplator to question what their environment proposes to them. In this sense, the Tabernacle might be an invitation to self-reflection, due to the mirror. In reference to the allusion of a sacred origin and its reinterpretation by Gloria it might also be a request to perceive and react to our fellow humans and the society.
Gloria Li Mir CV
Born in Lima, Peru, in 1943 († February 2025, in Antibes, France), Gloria studied Fine Arts at the University of New Mexico in Albuquerque, USA, and drawing (studio work) at the University of Stanford in California, USA. After her studies, she lived and worked in Guatemala-City. In 1975, she migrated to the region of Nice, France. From 1993 to 1998 she travelled and worked in the United States and in Guatemala. 1998 Gloria returned to Nice, and lived and worked in Vallauris, France since 1999.
At the beginning of her career, Gloria’s paintings were in a traditional figurative style. But soon after her studies she changed to more experimental works. When observing the play of light in her bathroom in 1969, Gloria started to paint monochrome white on strengthened canvas. She introduced movable elements, to expand possibilities to catch the continually changing qualities of the light. For the same purpose she experimented to create reliefs on the canvas. In the mid-seventies, she adopted the repoussage. This is a technique used traditionally by Latin-American goldsmiths for centuries. Since the canvas is not as stable as gold or silver, she underlaid the desired shape with cotton wool.
In particular, Gloria applied this method after her first arrival in the south of France in 1975. There, she was fascinated by the landscape and the pebbles on the beach and established both in her oeuvre. The landscape is reflected by white canvasses with some horizontal grey or beige shades, highlighted by bulges, which represent the pebbles. Additionally, there are the mainly rectangular movable elements. One example is “Vers le ciel” (To the sky) from 1981, which was our very first Artwork of the Month in February 2015.
Always interested in advancing her creations, Gloria tended to go beyond the traditional dimensions of the canvas. She created a series of puppets. Sometimes the figures were still attached to the canvas, but got more and more independent of it, to be more sculptures than paintings. Nevertheless, these puppets and their equipment were still made from wood, with stretched canvas, painted in white acrylic.
In the mid-eighties Gloria sometimes reintroduced colour to her paintings but still worked with her beloved pebbles. Our Artwork of the Month / April 2017 “Acrylique bleu émeraude” (Emerald blue acrylic) from 1986 is an illustration of this period. In this painting, the rectangle is fixed to the canvas. Other partly coloured pictures have also movable elements.
Beside her own artistic work, Gloria initiated group exhibitions and performances at the end of the 1980s. Nevertheless, she left France for a five-year working and exhibition journey through the US and Guatemala in 1993. During this time, she continued with performances and the organisation of artistic events at different places.
After her return to France in 1998, Gloria used more and more pre-existing objects. Amongst others, she created a series of a small mouse. Here, she sometimes used toy mice, real mousetraps or, she just returned to her “old” technique of stretching forms out of the canvas.
During all her active time as an artist, her work has encompassed different artistic media and disciplines including paper works, small boxes, ceramics, books and, above all two books written for children. Unfortunately, Gloria lost her eyesight, so she was forced to stop most of her artistic activities. Nevertheless, she experimented with taking photos and focused on cooperation with other artists.
Gloria’s artistic discourse had always centred on research concerning reflection; first it was the gleam of sunlight, then the glance backwards to childhood and finally her view on society. She was not only personally interested in the surrounding world but also invited the contemplator to question on what is proposed. In February 2025, she passed away, at the age of nearly 82 years. In March 2025, we dedicated our 100th Artwork of the Month “Tabernacle (Self-portrait)” from 1976 to her.
From the beginning of her career, Gloria had many personal and group exhibitions, first mainly in Guatemala and the US. Due to her migration to France, her focus was there, but she still continued her connection to Guatemala. Her works are represented in public and private collections in Guatemala, France and other countries.