I recently discovered French artist Maissa Toulet's work, and I'm fascinated by her collections of trifles, reliquaries, and curiosities. Toulet assembles bits and pieces she finds in junk shops and antique fairs into mesmerizing displays. According to Toulet, placing these collections inside frames and in cases makes her feel free -- she needs the boundaries and limitations to express herself. The displays evoke a sense of the sacred, yet they also have an eerie quality about them, as if put together by a clever sorcerer with sinister intentions...
::If you live in Paris {or, lucky you, are going to be visiting}, you should check out Maissa's show at Gallery Marassa Trois, going on now until March 6.
P.S. These really inspire me to continue my quest to make my own cabinet of curiosities. I have collected a few things here and there over the years: stones, bones, feathers, strange little sculptures. Now I just need to figure out how to get my parents to part with one of their old glass apothecary cabinets!!!!
