Creative Process Journal: Museum in a Box

Museum in a Box (My Mother/Myself Series) by Ingrid Mida 2012

Through my process work for this creative project, I took a journey of surreal wonder. I was inspired by the Viktor and Rolf exhibition and followed that spark into research about Freud's Uncanny, fashion dolls, and the museum as a metaphor.  Although I expected to create something related to fashion dolls, this process work has revealed a different path.

Museum in a Box 2 (My Mother/Myself Series) by Ingrid Mida 2012

These small glass boxes are like the glass vitrines of a museum. By curating a number of objects in my studio, I have created assemblages of memory. Each box contains objects that were either collected by my mother (tea spoons, watch parts, rose buds) or made by my mother (lace doilies). The doll hands are my own additions to reflect the graceful movement that is no more, since she can no longer make or hold such delicate things.

Museum in a Box 3 (My Mother/Myself Series) by Ingrid Mida 2012

Watching my mother suffer in the prison of her body with late stage Parkinson's disease is one of the most painful stories of my life. Much of what I do is haunted by that experience and I am acutely aware of the need to make the most of each day.

Museum in a Box 4 (My Mother/Myself Series) by Ingrid Mida 2012

Within these boxes, I have become a curator of my own museum. It is a museum of memory and love.

Museum in a Box 5 (My Mother/Myself Series) by Ingrid Mida 2012