— One of Us | 2015
Koen Theys

In One of Us, we witness an endless human procession emerging from a misty, white void. This peculiar assembly of figures draws directly from the three largest religious processions in Flanders, Belgium, evoking evangelical characters reminiscent of classic biblical films.

 

However, the portrayal here takes on a distinctly artificial quality: the men, clad in dusty robes and occasionally carrying staffs, wear conspicuously false beards and long-haired wigs. The women, heavily made-up for theatrical effect, appear in long dresses, religious attire, or are sometimes obscured by burqas.

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In a chilling, almost trance-like fashion, these wandering religious zealots advance toward the viewer, as though caught in a haunting ritual. They chant hypnotically: "We accept you... One of us... We accept you... One of us... Gooba-gobble, gooba-gobble... One of us..."

 

Their eerie refrain both beckons and unsettles, casting the procession as a disconcerting spectacle of conformity and fanaticism.