Peep Hole Boxes

"We never knows wot's hidden in each other's hearts; and if we had glass winders there, we'd need keep the shutters up, some on us, I do assure you!"
Charles Dickens: 'Martin Chuzzlewit' (1844)

Peeping in...

Showing at the moment in California's Orange County Center for Contemporary Arts, are two rare pieces of work of mine, "LOSS" and "UGLY" which are 3D sculptures I call 'Peep Hole Boxes'. They are part of the group exhibition 'London Calling' which is currently on until the 12th January 2012.


Let me tell you a little more about these boxes of curiosity.

 These are boxes built using foam board and varying in size, completely sealed except for the small eye holes at the front, which you can 'peep' through revealing a 3-D scene within. 

The Peep Hole Boxes

These cubes explore & try to simulate curiosity and the mini private universes which we cary with us in our heads. Emotions, personal experiences which normally we don’t want to share. It’s as if we were spying on someone when they’re at there most emotionally vulnerable. Note the effect an  enclosed and ‘private’ scene has on the viewer when he choses to look, it’s very different to that of an openly displayed image. There are issues of intimacy and privacy, broken slightly by curiosity itself.

These were first developed back in 1998 in a series of boxes with scenes inspired by the book 'The Gashleycrumb Tinies' by Edward Gorey. Using paper and card only, I developed certain techniques that allowed me to play with perspective and give the illusion of depth. Later the construction of these boxes became more complex and  four new original pieces were produced in 2002. Two of these are now displayed at the London Calling Exhibition in Orange County, California USA. LINK

The Gashleycrumb Tinies Book

X is for Xerxes devoured by mice. 162mm x 160mm x 154mm (1998) 

Y is for Yorick whose head was knocked in. 162mm x 160mm x 154mm (1998) 

Loss (2002)

Loss (detail-2002)

Ugly (2002)

Ugly (detail-2002)