Project 2: Taxonomies and Collections

For this project I was inspired by a few contemporary artists' installations as well as classic children's fairy tales. I collected 25 objects inspired by various fairy tales. Some objects (the playing card, the gold chain, the key) I chose with particular stories in mind (key for "Alice in Wonderland," gold chain for "Brother and Sister," and key for "The Bloody Chamber"). I arranged these objects in a 5x5 square grid, experimenting with minimalist form. I was inspired by the blog, Things Organized Neatly. I also tend to create messy, elaborate work, so I decided to try a cleaner, more mathematical approach. Some of the objects are already quite detailed (like the matryoshka doll) so I also liked the grid because it allowed each item to stand alone as an art project and stand together as a whole piece. I was afraid that the smaller items might get lost if I mixed them in with bigger objects, so I created a 3x3 square grid in the middle of the bigger grid. In hindsight, I think the installation would've been more visually balanced if I'd alternated the smaller objects with the large.



Everything on the wall, from left to right, starting with the top row:

1. My grandmother's hair. After my grandmother (on my mother's side) passed, the family had some sort of raffle to divvy up her belongings. At some point she had cut her hair very short, so there were two braids up for grabs. My mom won them. I'm glad I used them for this project because they were sitting, neglected, wrapped in tissue paper inside of a plastic bag when I asked my mother how I could find a braid to represent Rapunzel. 
2. Plastic roses. 
3. Ball of my grandmother's yarn. Same grandmother. 
4. Wind-up bird in cage from my sister's room. 
5. Russian matryoshka doll. Gift from my aunt's travels. 
6. Some sort of spindle/piece off a family heirloom. 
7. Painted egg
8. Craft store nest
9. Glass mushroom from kid's game. My sister's. 
10. Handkerchief. Antique. 
11. Wood folk toy. Gift from my mom to my sister. 
12. Little silver chair
13. Playing card
14. Goose figurine. From my Aunt Em. She had a collection of little porcelain figurines that she gave to my sister and I. 
15. Clock
16. Compact mirror. Gift from my aunt from France. 
17. Die
18. Wooden art model/figure
19. Thimble 
20. Gold chain. Probably belonged to a grandparent. 
21. Key. Belonged to paternal grandmother, I believe. 
22. Basket
23. Crown. I made this out of lace, gold paint, small seashells, and ModPodge two years ago when making a mermaid costume, fittingly. 
24. Fake berries
25. Teacup from first project