Miriam Schaer

I use the language of clothing to create narrative sculpture. Frozen and stiff, the garment becomes immobile, as if the wearer evaporated, leaving a only a shell. They become places. Enclosures. Upon opening, the ghost of the missing person still remains in the echo of the garment’s frozen shape. When opened what remains are fragments, small found objects and books nestled within. They are the distilled essence of the story, the one left behind by the “person” once living there. New homes for stories I collect. In addition to individual objects, I began to create environments for these narrative sculptures. Using varied modes of display, the installations are inspired from the dioramas in natural history museums, retablos and altars, drawing on a narrative tradition in which the impossible is probable in which magic and marvels coexist with things actual and proven.