Portfolio > Reliquaries/Cabinets

Michele Sommer-Shapiro
I have always had an attachment to the old and damaged,to discarded detritus and pieces of paper. What is taboo yet strange and beautiful. My restless imagination latches onto a fragment , whether image or word, and begins to build a scenario with unusual associations. I do not sketch or plan, preferring to delicately construct new environments, rewire their meanings and make way for the unexpected in the moment. My recurring themes are the forces that govern our lives: birth, death, time, cycles, blessings, secrets, mysteries, and fate. My work lands somewhere between reliquaries and altarpieces. My recent investigations involve creating utilitarian cabinets. I am immersed in the creation of my work and would love to share it with others. Several of my pieces appear in the series 500 cabinets published by Lark Books.

modern reliquary cabinet antique wood, cut nails, bone, found objects
antique wood, found objects
12 x 5 1/2
2018
Unusual themed cabinet based on secrets and superman appear in the book 500 Cabinets published by Lark Books
Cabinet constructed using reclaimed barn board, cut nails,recycled castings,aluminum, mirrors, beads, screws, wire mesh, paint, paper collage
Soon They Will Be Telling You
Barnwood, wood shavings, collage, found objects
9 W X 12 H
2017
wall cabinet antique box with iron handle
wood, plexiglass, collage, found objects, fringe
10 H x 6 W
2017
As A Man Thinketh
antique box, antique book text, cut nails, collage, aluminum figure,found objects
5 W x 13 H
2017
3-D collage created for Valentine's Day 2016
Paper, watch parts,colored pencil, hardware, punched circles from alum. cans
2016