Shrine - Julia Arena

I created this shrine in honor of my father who passed away when I was six years old. In the process of creating the shrine, I kept lists of possible objects to insert into the shrine. When decorating the lid, I made a point to choose three different types of photographs--one of my parents, one of my entire family, and one of me with my Dad. The image in the middle of these is one of my favorite out of all our family photos. It was taken the farm my Dad built and loved to escape to on weekends. Though we still have the farm, we almost never go out there anymore. 

When it came to choosing objects to place inside the box, I had to narrow down some of my choices. I thought it would be nice to put another image of just me with my father since this shrine was created by me for him. Also, I put the photograph of the two of us in the main part of the box because my father gave me the shirt under the photo and it creates the visual link I wanted to show between the two of us. The round photograph is an older one that I always keep by my bedside table. This particular photograph has traveled with me to camp, school, and back home. Strewn on top of the shirt are two rosaries. Though we are not Catholic, some of our friends came and said the rosary at my father's bedside right before he died. These are the rosaries they used. 

 This shirt is the most significant part of the shrine. My father brought it back from Spain for me when I was very young. Even though it was too big, it quickly became my favorite shirt. Looking at the shirt in person, it is very worn out and even has small holes. This shirt has a lot of deep sentimental value for me and I am very attached to it.

The most difficult part in creating the shrine was finding something to put all of the small trinkets and photos I acquired to honor my father. I made a list of his likes or of objects I associated with him. My father had a huge love for chocolate. When I say he loved chocolate, I mean he REALLY loved chocolate. THerefore, nothing seemed more appropriate than to use an empty chocolate box to contain the shrine to my father.