Things That Look Like Friends

Things that look like friends
10" × 10" shadow box assemblage

Polyphemus—the Cyclops, not the moth—learned the hard way about friends who claim to be "Nobody." This piece asks the same question: Is that a face smiling back from the vintage brass, or just hardware catching the light? Are you projecting companionship onto objects because the real thing keeps biting?

The male Antheraea polyphemus sits in judgment between two door plates that look suspiciously like they’re keeping secrets. The mirror fragments offer fractured reflections—maybe of you, maybe of the friends who only look friendly. The moss grows where the conversation died.

For anyone who’s ever mistaken a closed door for an open invitation, or who finds better company in the quiet loyalty of antiques than
in small talk. It’s pareidolia, sure. Or maybe it’s just easier to trust things that can’t ghost you.

Materials: Naturally deceased Polyphemus moth (Saturniidae), paper collage images, synthetic moss, mirrored glass, 1900s coffin nail, archival mounting in a 10" × 10" wood shadow box.

Care: Keep away from direct sun and humidity. Dust
gently; these friends won’t judge your housekeeping, but entropy will.

Some doors are better left locked. Some "friends" are better left as hardware.

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