Welcome to my Wunderkammer

When I was young, I wanted to be an archaeologist. Instead, I became a creative collector, fabricating stories with the remnants and relics that I find. Some of these stories are inspired by the objects themselves and originate from a spontaneous intuition of their purpose. For others, I seek out materials to fulfill an envisioned idea. I collect found objects not only because of their tangible and compelling beauty, but also because they are evidence of existence and symbols that reveal identity. 

Within these works, I am assembling commonplace materials to tell magical stories of our ordinary world. It is my hope that you will explore these objects and discover a place that is all at once mysterious, enchanting and new yet nostalgic and familiar. 

Like half remembered stories, these objects speak of pieces of memories that are in all of us and yet hold secrets that we will never know. 

Reliquary

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

This is an interactive art piece. Each of the six drawers of this apothecary cabinet contains a different assemblage for the viewer to explore ( see details of drawers below) .

apothecary cabinet from Tibet, clay faces , photograph of  the sky, feathers, led light, armadillo shell, numbered nails, rice paper, fabric, bones: bones of mouse and shrews, twine, human hair, vials, teeth, nail clippings, maps, handmade bird nest, cat fur, tiny scissors, plexiglass, photo transfer, found wooden piece, watch parts, found metal pieces, wire, metallic paper, acetate, mirror, magic, music composed by Dead Canaries, sea coral, canvas, thread, more vials, ribbon, beads, tea leaves, needles, water, paper, soil, images of embryos and fetuses in resin, spade, forty-four little jars, forty-four different varieties of seeds

10.25" x 12.75" x 9"

Reliquary Drawers

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Moths

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

wood crate, barn wood frame, vellum, wire,  light bulb, found photograph, personal letter, tack, motion sensor

17.5" x 14.75" x 4.75"

Moths

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Moths Detail

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

...both of our dreams are dangerous because they are not real, because they leave no room for magic, because they forget that sometimes in life we encounter moments that really mean something

The Story of the Floating Feather

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

paper, matboard, hand colored image from Vaslav Nijinsky's Le Spectre de la Rose, clock mechanisms, music box playing Mozart's Zauberflote

Floating Feather - Detail

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Floating Feather - Detail Music Box

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Interactive Pieces

Wonders

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

archival digital prints, natural fiber panels, BEVA adhesive

3" x 3" each

Wonders

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Wonders Detail

(c) charity Rae Burger 2008

wonders

Home Series

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

Home #1 - Detail

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

sewing pattern, found wood pieces, honey bee, magnifying glass

9" x 5.5" x 3"

Home #2 - Detail

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

sewing pattern, hand colored found photograph, glass, map of Pennsylvania, toy part, miniature chair

9" x 5.5" x 2"

Home #3 - Detail

(c) Charity Rae Burger 2008

sewing pattern, wooden frame, salt dip, button, wire, safety pins

9" x 5.5" x 1.5"

I would like to thank the following people for the part that they played in making this exhibit possible:

Christina Coleman, Robin Schwartz, Danny Burger, Lance Nichols, Jon Fink, Sarah Davidson, Kathleen Spooner, Chris, Sarah Ahearn & Jesse Bellemare, Katrina, Sean & Amy, Jacinta, Chelsea, my mom & dad, Alice & Kevin (& their cats), Sean Clayton, and Carl Cowley

I would also like to thank the Strategic Opportunity Stipends Program through New York Foundation for the Arts and New York State Council on the Arts and The ARTS Council of the Southern Finger Lakes for the funding that they provided for this exhibit.

Thank you! I could not have done this without you.