Abstract
Throughout the history of the world, humans have deified facets of their personalities,for good or ill. In mythology, we see gods acting no better than our neighbors and exhibiting human foibles. Even Catholic saints can be looked at with skepticism for they were also human. I propose that using stereotypes as a mirror for the individual builds a deeper understanding into the human psyche. We are creatures of personal history and the mythologies that we create in our own minds; our reality is composed of these stereotypes. I created these figures to change the prejudices we have, that warp the perceptions of our world. They are built with the body language of characters that we see every day, the stereotypical personifications of our beliefs. By applying the characteristics of the Commedia dell'arte to the seven deadly sins and the seven heavenly virtues, I turn the tables on the monstrous and the holy-sins as everyday occurrences and virtue as monstrosities. These figures, fabricated out of steel, are merely the mannequins dressed to play the part of a character, on the stage that is our world. If all the world is a stage, these characters take a different tack in modeling who and what makes up the preconceived notions and stereotypical views of the world around us.