A lot of my work is inspired by memories, and I see prized objects as memory-holders. Every once in a while I wonder which are the ones I couldn’t live without, the ones I would want to save from a fire. Without much premeditation I settled on nine, and today I share the first three with you.

 

The first one is the oldest: a collage given to me by my kindergaden teachers when I turned three. It reads something like this: “so that when Gabriela is a grown up, she remembers we held a party to celebrate her third birthday”. I’m grateful to my mother for keeping this for the longest time, and then giving it to me as a present some years ago, framed and ready to hang on the wall.

My second object is an old bus ticket machine from Buenos Aires, where I grew up. I have no idea when these were replaced by the kind of self-service “automatic” machines that often break down, but I remember the old ones from my childhood and am very happy to own this little piece of history from my native city (with thanks to my dad who bought several from a junk dealer to give to friends and family who live abroad!).

 

Today’s third object is a lot more recent than the first two: a small ceramic sculpture of a dog holding a rabbit by American artist Lisa Schumaier, bought from her studio in Alexandria on a visit to the US in 2012. I was charmed by all of Lisa’s work and since I couldn’t carry one of her life-size figures back home with me, I chose this strange and sad looking dog. I love the expressions in the faces of both animals, and the contrast between soft fabrics of the clothing and hard, raku-fired ceramic bodies…

 

What things would you save from a fire? Which are the objects that mean the most to you? Head over to my facebook page and share some of these, or tweet me some images: I would truly  love to see them!