Ode to Dorian Gray

This box came about when Radius Gallery asked for small work for their annual holiday show. It sounded like fun to make small, simpler pieces and I loved creating this! It's very small; it fits in my hand. The scroll is simply placed in and can drop out if it's not wedged in quite right, but for the most part it stays put.

The sunflower hook is an antique, and adds a certain vibe that I like a lot. I consider the photograph side the "outside" and the old decomposing tintype the "inside," though I have spent time with it hanging both ways and like it equally well no matter which side is facing me. I feel like the scroll and the broken personal photo have a private feel to them much like our insides actually do.

My hand holding the piece give you a sense o the size of the box...it fits in my hand! For these small boxes I am trying to hide my signature (the stamped "smith" under the scroll. The text is a quotation from Oscar Wilde's "The Picture of Dorian Gray." The connections are not too mysterious, I think. The tintype on the inside of the box is old and decrepit, on the front the photo is pristine. I have had the tintype in my collection for many years. It finally has a home! The sunflower picture hanger was a member of a lot of similar hangers I got on ebay this summer. Because of the scale of the little box, the hanger really adds a lot to the overall look. I consider the hanger part of the box, actually.