Ana Maria Pacheco: Dark Night of the Soul

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Pacheco's suite of polychrome sculpture, entitled "Dark Night of the Soul", translates the legend of St Sebastian into a modern context. This book traces the development of that work and its inspiration and documents the finished piece through Hedgecoe's photography.

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The fourth artist in residence at the National Gallery, London, Ana Maria Pacheco grew up in Brazil, surrounded by a culture richly influenced both by the Catholic religion and by the rituals of the indigenous population. She was also aware of the modernist architecture that was introduced to Brazil from Europe in the 1930s, which stood in stark contrast to the colourful amalgam of processions, ceremonies and church art. Pacheco's suite of polychrome sculpture at the National Gallery reflects these influences and translates the legend of St Sebastian into a 20th-century context. Her two paintings, "Luz Eterna" and Queen of Sheba and King Solomon in the Garden of Earthly Delights" reveal her fascination with biblical themes as a source of timeless myth. John Hedgecoe has photographed the artist at work on the tableau, stage by stage, as well as the finished work, and Sandra Miller's text draws heavily on numerous conversations with the artist and throws light on the artist's imagination at work.