Pandora’s Box for a Bipolar Faggot

2025

copper, brass, cast bronze, sterling silver, china paint on various enamels, spring steel, patinated in Midas black

I empathize with Pandora, because if I were given a box that I wasn’t allowed to open, I too would immediately try to look inside. 

This is the first in a series of boxes made to hold my emotions, desires, and other intangible thoughts. Parodying the myth of Pandora’s Box, I examine my tendencies towards impulsivity and addiction and how they manifest for me as a queer man living in the 21st century. I tend to adopt a devil-may-care attitude when faced with spur-of-the-moment decisions, disregarding sense and safety for the sake of gratification, curiosity, or a good story. Just as Pandora unleashed evils upon the world by opening the box, I invite evils into my life through my own impulsive decisions. And true to the myth, once my demons have been set free, there is no returning them to the box. 

Inside, the words “Oh Pandora, you stupid bitch” mock the viewer for their ill-advised opening of the box in a tone similar to that of the judgmental voice in my head.