Secretary with Chipmunk

2015, 96” x 41” x 20.25”, wood, glass, ash, gold, brass, mirror, sugar, salt, cold fusion, permanent collection, Chipstone Foundation, photo credit: Jim Wildeman

Secretary with Chipmunk reincarnates an 18th century Boston Bombe desk into a work of art that illuminates ways in which we learn. It explores the origins of an individual’s knowledge by focusing on both concrete and intangible ways that we understand our individual worlds. To create Secretary with Chipmunk, all counterfeit components were removed, some were burnt, and the ash incorporated into the hand-sculpted glass composition. The work transforms the capital and the feet into a three dimensional grotto and the doors, fall board, and interior depict the five senses through the use of human anatomical illustrations as symbolic cultural objects.
The title, Secretary with Chipmunk, pays homage to the founders of the Chipstone Foundation, Polly and Stanley Stone, whose term of endearment inspired the foundation's name. The work was commissioned by Chipstone Foundation.

2015, 96” x 41” x 20.25”, wood, glass, ash, gold, brass, mirror, sugar, salt, adhesive, permanent collection, Chipstone Foundation, photo credit: Jim Wildeman

Both the fall board and prospect door of the Bombe secretary were fakes enabling modification. The fall board incorporates symbols of touch; the prospect door represents taste.

2015, 96” x 41” x 20.25”, wood, glass, ash, gold, brass, mirror, sugar, salt, adhesive, permanent collection, Chipstone Foundation, photo credit: Jim Wildeman

Doors opened to reveal the olfactory chamber.

2015, 96” x 41” x 20.25”, wood, glass, ash, gold, brass, mirror, sugar, salt, adhesive, permanent collection, Chipstone Foundation, photo credit: Jim Wildeman

Capital detail incorporates shells, rocks, flowers, and a Rococo cartouche.