ShadowBoxesByOttavia

Making things has never been a choice for me. It's a need.
I grew up in a family of artists and staring at my grandmother's walls and absorbing inspiration from her pieces and those of her artist friends shaped me as a human more than I could comprehend at the time.
The museums and shows I visited as a child exposed me to a broader definition of art. It doesn't need to be flat, it doesn't even require hanging on a wall. Art can be a 3-dimensional piece. It may even be interactive.
I spent countless hours looking at the shadow boxes of the American surrealist Joseph Cornell, and even more time day dreaming about them. They were playful, oneiric.

I have been making these boxes my whole life. But they only made their appearance in the physical world much later on. Now, I let my subconscious be the source of inspiration for each piece. Sometimes, they are a reflection of my vivid dreams. Other times, they are sparked by a new, found object. I let my interest in interior design to help me with aesthetics, color schemes and placement. I consider each box to be a room.