Aura photography visualizes an individual’s electromagnetic field to measure emotional energy. Von Mertens references this practice in her unconventional portrait. Fabric is dyed in varying colors suggesting energy, while quilting outlines the form of an almost disappeared figure. Her subject is taken not from life, but rather from art history: John Singer Sargent’s famously mysterious “Madame X.” Von Mertens has created a portrait that is every bit as original as its antecedent, and also speaks to another kind of aura, defined by philosopher Walter Benjamin: the sense of awe we feel in the presence of a unique work of art.

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