The Receptacle Project

Artist Name: 
Harriet Cherry Cheney
Medium: 
Cardboard 42oz Quaker Oats canisters overlaid with plastic canvas woven with yarn and other fibers -- or covered with fabric -- or a combination of both. Beads and buttons are used as embellishments and integral parts of the composition. This project will
Dimensions (width x height x depth): 
28.5h x 16.4 w x 5.5 d, inches

This is an assemblage of nine Quaker Oatmeal canisters covered with fabric, woven yarn, beads, and buttons. This project is an exercise in "repairing the world" one person at a time.

The Receptacle Project

Each of us has experienced unexpected and challenging events this past year. For many, this has been cantilevered over already existing trauma and difficult — often tragic — life circumstances. Uber-reactive to slights, real and imagined, anger is the common default. Our peripheral vision and emotional receptors are hyper-sensitive to harsh judgments we arouse in others due to the color of our skin, what we believe, or how we behave. Is there anyone who doesn’t feel like they’re walking on eggshells? Must we don our personal “virtue” facade and use it to beat up others? Can we just take a look in the mirror and choose to be better versions of ourselves. Can this be enough? Do we really need to practice the blame game? In an effort to symbolize shedding no-longer-wanted attitudes, I’m creating a growing number of receptacles to contain cast-off traits, intentions, and thought patterns that hinder the openness and depth of our relationships. If you identify with what I’ve said, I invite you to send me a small post-it sized piece of paper, folded in half and sealed with staples or tape for anonymity. On it, write whatever you’ve come to identify as an unhelpful instinct or attitude: harsh judgment; selfishness; negativity, etc., and I will add this to one of the receptacles. This is an ongoing project. I've paused here at nine.

Price: $2,703.00
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