Andrew Hazewinkel and Jelena Telecki collaboration British School at Rome,

Created through a process of assemblage, Hot Tears (For Luigi) is comprised of found materials, donated materials and church candles. It was the only floor based work included in the exhibition For Luigi, a research and presentation collaboration between Hazewinkel and the Yugoslavian born painter Jelena Telecki. The candles remained alight for the duration of the exhibition releasing a slow, cascading flow of hot-wax, that settled into pools and waves that set over time.

Through a historically focussed lens, the project For Luigi reflected on the at times murky nature of artist-patron relationships. This body of contemporary, research rich, painted and sculpted works examined the productive but ultimately destructive relationship between Luigi Valadier the Pope Pius VI.

Luigi Valadier was the most celebrated sculptor, designer, draftsman, goldsmith, silversmith and bronze founder of eighteenth-century Rome. He and his workshop of almost one hundred people produced luxury objects – functional, decorative and devotional – for the Catholic Church and many of Europe’s wealthiest families.

On September fifteenth, 1785, Luigi Valadier committed suicide by drowning himself in the Tiber in response to mounting financial distress resulting from unpaid commissions. He left unfinished a large bell for the Vatican’s St Peter’s Basilica. Il Campanone (The Great Bell) was completed by others following his death. Today it is rung only on Christmas Day, Easter Sunday, and to announce the death of a Pope.

The central element of Hot Tears (For Luigi) is a found, hand carved, wooden, neo-baroque ornament that has been resurfaced in river sand the artists excavated from the banks of the Tiber at the site where Luigi Valadier entered the water.

^{Photographed by Andrew Hazewinkel}