Cassandra Carrasco | 2026 | Film/Animation/Video & Cognitive Science

Keepsake

Papier-mache, Plaster, Copper leaf, Paint, Plywood 

This piece is composed of three parts: a (functional) jewelry box made of papier-mache, three plaster reliefs of Our Lady of Guadalupe, and a wooden shelf built to contain and display the other two components. The relief is inspired by a medal that was given to my dad as a baby and that he later gave to me. Although he has never had any religious feelings for the medal, it has always been precious to him as a beautiful object and a piece of Mexican tradition. And for me, although I often felt detached from typically “feminine” objects and activities, jewelry like that medal and the other pieces I kept in the original jewelry box (the red one here is an exact replica) have been a constant source of delight. For me they are also beautiful, and many of the pieces I have were passed down to me from other members of my family in Mexico, England, and here in the US, a way for me to keep them close. The shelf has not yet been built, but my design is intended to make clear the value these objects hold for me. They will be enclosed and protected in what I hope to also make a beautifully decorated object in its own right...another container for the pieces and the people I find precious.

from translat[], Granoff Center for the Creative Arts, January 18 - February 20, 2022