Relics and Reliquaries

Barbara Ségal's "Relics and Reliquaries" series merges stone carving with her current work in plaster, glass, and metal, influenced by techniques and narratives from ancient Egypt to contemporary times. This series comments on materialism, feminism, and societal issues.  She focuses on canonizing iconic women in 20th-century media as sacred relics elevating them through sculptures and reclaiming their complexity using contemporary materials that blend stone, glass, and metal.  She further references Islamic, Byzantine, and Renaissance traditions to interrogate how misrepresented, sexualized, and commodified women are in the media.  

The series begins with "Byzantine Betty Boop," a reliquary honoring one of animation’s earliest female icons. Though widely recognized, Betty Boop’s origin story was based on jazz singer Esther Jones—“Baby Esther”—whose signature vocal style was appropriated without credit.  Betty was first drawn as a dog, then censored by The Hays Code, which regulated American films. Her journey reflects a cycle of invention, distortion, and reclamation. Betty Boop’s reliquary is encased in a sacred container with her carved black marble shoes, an object associated with her, inside a vintage lunchbox. She is carved in marble, her halo adorned with semi-precious gemstones and surrounded by  Byzantine glass and gold tesserae. The sides are gold-leaf over glass, and the back is a portrait of Betty in fused glass, 

"Saint Olive of Oyl," the second work in progress, is a relic that transforms the comic strip character into a Madonna and child-like figure; Olive wears a crown of fused glass layered with brass and gemstones, holding Swee’Pea in her arms. Often portrayed as a comedic foil or helpless damsel, she is recast as a maternal protector—dignified, powerful, and iconic. 

These traditions are reframed through a contemporary lens—melding ancient traditions and modern thought, underscoring these iconic women's contributions to contemporary society.  Canonizing misrepresented women is intended to create dialogue and challenge intergenerational audiences to consider how women have been influenced and changed their behaviors —from early cartoons to contemporary platforms.