2025.11
59 x 74 x 2 cm
Oil on canvas
Eustache Le Sueur’s Bacchus and Ariadne (1640) — often noted for its gesture of the “hand that removes the halo” — captures the moment when Ariadne, abandoned and desolate, is received by a god. Her elevation into divinity symbolizes the transformation of the mortal soul through suffering: a story of salvation born from loss.
In Lin’s reinterpretation, this trajectory is reversed. While the act of removing the halo reappears, it is Maria herself who lifts it from her head. No longer awaiting external grace, she returns divinity to her own being. The gesture carries both fatigue and revelation — a declaration that the universe already resides within. If Le Sueur’s work depicts the god who receives humanity, Lin’s painting becomes the human who proclaims her own divinity.
At the same time, the piece exposes how society has long cloaked women in the rhetoric of “the sacred,” turning that sanctity into a mechanism of control — muse, mother, caretaker. Such haloed praise disguises labor and sacrifice. Lin’s Maria sees through the illusion; she would rather fall from the altar than perform unwanted devotion in the name of virtue. Few prophets or deities in history have willingly relinquished the privilege of worship. Here, Lin paints the rare figure who does — a woman who defends her authenticity and freedom, whatever the cost.
Eustache Le Sueur 的《酒神與阿里阿德涅》（1640）常引人注目的一個細節是那隻「將光環取下的手」。畫中描繪的，是阿里阿德涅在被遺棄、絕望之後，被神迎接的瞬間。她從凡人被提升為神性，象徵靈魂在苦痛中轉化。這是一則由失落引發的救贖故事。
在林的轉譯中，這條敘事軸線被反向處理。畫面裡依然有摘下光環的動作，但這一次，取下光環的人是瑪利亞自己。她不再等待外界的恩典，而是把神性收回自身。這個姿態既帶著倦意，也帶著清醒——宣示宇宙本已在內，人不必向外祈求。如果 Le Sueur 的作品是「神接納人」，那麼林的畫便是「人宣告自己的神性」。
同時，作品也揭露社會長期以「神聖」為名，把女性綑綁在角色中。如論是繆思、母親或照護者。這些冠冕堂皇的讚美，本質上是隱藏的勞動與犧牲。林筆下的瑪利亞看穿這個機制。與其因「神聖」之名而心不甘情不願地奉獻，她寧可自己從神壇上墜落。歷史上，很少有先知或神祇願意主動捨棄被崇拜的特權。而林呈現的是罕見的例外：一位無論付出什麼代價都要守住真實與自由的女性。
2025.11
59 x 74 x 2 cm
Oil on canvas
Eustache Le Sueur’s Bacchus and Ariadne (1640) — often noted for its gesture of the “hand that removes the halo” — captures the moment when Ariadne, abandoned and desolate, is received by a god. Her elevation into divinity symbolizes the transformation of the mortal soul through suffering: a story of salvation born from loss.
In Lin’s reinterpretation, this trajectory is reversed. While the act of removing the halo reappears, it is Maria herself who lifts it from her head. No longer awaiting external grace, she returns divinity to her own being. The gesture carries both fatigue and revelation — a declaration that the universe already resides within. If Le Sueur’s work depicts the god who receives humanity, Lin’s painting becomes the human who proclaims her own divinity.
At the same time, the piece exposes how society has long cloaked women in the rhetoric of “the sacred,” turning that sanctity into a mechanism of control — muse, mother, caretaker. Such haloed praise disguises labor and sacrifice. Lin’s Maria sees through the illusion; she would rather fall from the altar than perform unwanted devotion in the name of virtue. Few prophets or deities in history have willingly relinquished the privilege of worship. Here, Lin paints the rare figure who does — a woman who defends her authenticity and freedom, whatever the cost.
Eustache Le Sueur 的《酒神與阿里阿德涅》（1640）常引人注目的一個細節是那隻「將光環取下的手」。畫中描繪的，是阿里阿德涅在被遺棄、絕望之後，被神迎接的瞬間。她從凡人被提升為神性，象徵靈魂在苦痛中轉化。這是一則由失落引發的救贖故事。
在林的轉譯中，這條敘事軸線被反向處理。畫面裡依然有摘下光環的動作，但這一次，取下光環的人是瑪利亞自己。她不再等待外界的恩典，而是把神性收回自身。這個姿態既帶著倦意，也帶著清醒——宣示宇宙本已在內，人不必向外祈求。如果 Le Sueur 的作品是「神接納人」，那麼林的畫便是「人宣告自己的神性」。
同時，作品也揭露社會長期以「神聖」為名，把女性綑綁在角色中。如論是繆思、母親或照護者。這些冠冕堂皇的讚美，本質上是隱藏的勞動與犧牲。林筆下的瑪利亞看穿這個機制。與其因「神聖」之名而心不甘情不願地奉獻，她寧可自己從神壇上墜落。歷史上，很少有先知或神祇願意主動捨棄被崇拜的特權。而林呈現的是罕見的例外：一位無論付出什麼代價都要守住真實與自由的女性。
