Boxes of Art
Last night I attended the annual ProArts Box Art Show and auction and was the winning bidder on a fantastic piece by Barbara Maricle. The auction featured 50 pieces of Box Art, works all derived from the same source material, a 5"x5" square block. I made a piece which started as a felted block but, because of technical difficulties, eventually became a block covered by Polaroid transfer images I made about 10 years ago. The piece is called, "She's Pushing the Memories Outside the Box" and unfortunately I didn't take a photo of it to share with you.
Here's Barbara's piece. I particularly like the crack in the wood which is has covered with little pieces of handmade paper. She's created an interesting contrast between the solid wood and the delicate paper. Are the little "x's" an effort to hide the crack, heal it, or to keep it together? I like works that encourage me to create a story. 
About seven years ago I purchased another piece of Box Art from the same event. It is displayed on the top of the shelving unit in this photo of my apartment. The artist is Linda Glickman and she had a piece in last night's event as well.
Here's a close-up. It is called "The Life of Olive" and you can turn Olive's head with the little piece on the top which says, "Ripen". The dress inside the box is made of woven paper with English, Hebrew and Arabic words on it. On the left side of the box is a vanity style hand mirror for Olive and the right side has a slip for her dress. So much care and craft went into making the little details and I sense a narrative. Does Olive have many sides to her personality, perhaps she comes from a family of many cultures?
I've also hung a beautiful textile on the wall. It keeps working its way around my house. First a table runner, then a bedspread and now a wall hanging. I love the blues. Hanging it on the wall has changed this area of my apartment into an active zone. Previously it was a very empty space that I just passed through.
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