As a pathologist, I spend most days analyzing the layers of pattern revealed when light transilluminates slices of life mounted on glass laboratory slides. The study of disease focuses awareness on time and change, on the range of variation of natural patterns, and on the complementary information apparent at different levels of observation. I address this complexity by using a variety of materials and processes in mixed media constructions, based around a common theme. I have experimented with wood, metals including copper and iron, handmade paper, stained and fused glass, plastics and resins, ceramics, fibers including silk painting, and photography using alternative processes in darkroom and computer. My house is full of found materials looking for new homes. Retirement has allowed me time to think about which processes and forms I want to focus on. I have made lamps, windows, wall pieces, functional objects, but I have come back to focus on book and box forms as the most flexible and personal way to use multiple materials. I am focusing on boxes which can function as portable personal spaces, with functions of diary , altar, meditative focus, keepsake and photo box. Book and box forms allow images and objects to be viewed in varying combinations and sequences as the boxes are opened and manipulated.

Sometimes I incorporate motion, sound, optical effects, or touch in addition to passive interaction. Some of my larger boxes use translucent panels to highlight internal structures and colors, or to channel light to a focus for contemplation of inner spaces. I have found inspiration in Joseph Cornell's boxes, cabinets of curiosities from the Baroque era, folk art assemblages and shrines, artists' books, collage art, and sacred geometry and symbolism.

Two boxes were in a show at the Parkland College art Gallery in January 2005, with the Nautilis box receiving best of show. The Nautilus Variations box presents a familiar spiral pattern with the physical shell juxtaposed with photographs, hologram, digital scanned image, well-known poem, and the underlying mathematical ideal. Moving the reflective surfaces and using the included flashlight superimposes and relates multiple levels of perceived reality clustering on this single entity.

The Order/Disorder box contrasts the dualities of order vs. disorder, information vs. chaos, random vs. predictable. As I have aged and survived, I feel more deeply the influence of chance in our optimistically-planned lives. The compartmented portion of the box has a golden-rectangle-derived structure, and contains interactive elements that assume chance configurations. The rotary element is salvaged from a VCR, and spins to select an I Ching pattern. The center of origin unlocks. A rear compartment encloses an artists book , also exploring ideas of randomness and order.

Charles L. Wisseman MD