Nona Inescu
Relics. Quarries. Reliquaries., 2022

Concretion stones,
like natural reliquaries,
containers for past organic matter,
extracted from man-made sand quarries
or dropping down in a
water-carved valley,
anatomically-shaped imaginaries
a pareidolia exercise.

A glossary

apophe​nia | \ ˌa-pə-ˈfē-nē-ə \
the tendency to perceive a connection or meaningful pattern between unrelated or random things (such as objects or ideas)

con​cre​tion | \ kän-ˈkrē-shən, kən- \
something concreted: such as a hard usually inorganic mass formed in a living body
a hard solid mass formed by the local accumulation of matter, especially within the body or within a mass of sediment
the process by which matter forms into a concretion

mimetolith | \ mǐ-mē-tō- lǐth \
a natural topographic feature, rock outcrop, rock specimen, mineral specimen, or loose stone the shape of which resembles something else — e.g., a real or fancied animal, plant, manufactured item, or part(s) thereof.
a topographic feature (et alia) with any combination of shape and pattern that resembles a real or fancied animal, . . . . [Greek mimetes (an imitator) and lithos (stone)]

parei​do​lia | \ ˌper-ˌī-ˈdō-lē-ə, -ˈdōl-yə \
the tendency to perceive a specific, often meaningful image in a random or ambiguous visual pattern

quar​ry | \ ˈkwȯr-ē, ˈkwär- \
an open excavation usually for obtaining building stone, slate, or limestone
an animal pursued by a hunter, hound, predatory mammal, or bird of prey
a thing or person that is chased or sought
to dig or take from or as if from a quarry
to extract (stone or other materials) from a quarry

reliquary | \ ˈre-lə-ˌkwer-ē \
a container or shrine in which sacred relics are kept
a receptacle, such as a coffer or shrine, for keeping or displaying relics