Reliquaries
I once taught at a school with a history of training secretaries. In its early years the institution prided itself on preparing women for employment as secretaries of the highest standards. These women were sought after as exemplary businesswomen, ahead of their time in career options and independence. Gradually, as employment needs and job markets changed, so too did the training programs for such women. High-end technology replaced the human element and opportunities changed. The resulting decline in dependence on administrative assistants ended in lay-offs and dissolution of positions.
This piece, comprised of three papier-mâché building forms, recognizes the loss of such workers, discarded like abandoned slides found in a box at a flea market. As in my other reliquaries, the temporality of the material reinforces temporariness of experience.