Ruark

Box with images of children on outside and "You Are My Sunshine" written/typed inside.

'Ruark', by Sunni Mercer is a sculptural box measuring at 2 x 5.5 x 3.75 inches. Sunni uses found objects and photos in addition to the dark brown box in her sculpture. There is a circular photo of a little girl which appears to be a vintage black and white photograph on the lid of the box. Her picture is bordered by a black, circular, chunky frame with about 50 different sized, almost bone shaped clay fragments that are a light brown/tan color. There are four small twisted wires on each side of the frame: top, bottom, left & right. This black frame and picture take up the majority of the lid, not quite touching each edge but close to it. The bronze metal latch on the lid is an elongated trapezoid, horizontally placed, with four small screws in the corners. Below the latch, on each side of the bottom corners, are two small circular indentions while directly below the latch is a silvery metal, vertically placed label, with the word 'RUARK' printed in blue and taped over. On the base of the box, on all four sides is a strip of what appears to be an old black and white school group photo of young kids; the strip takes up close to half of the base of the box. The strip is made up of the same photo reprinted again on again on all four sides, with only one child standing out of the black and white crowd, wearing a light blue shirt. When you open up the box, the inside of the lid displays a small card with a message that says "You are my sunshine, my only sunshine." The card is sewn in each corner as well as in the center of the top and bottom edge, with a light pink thread into a piece of soft, black felt that takes up the inside of the lid. The black fabric is bordered with the pink sewn thread, as well as the black felt that takes up the bottom of the box. Sunni's box alludes to the idea of boxes as holders of memories/keepsakes and important tools in the continuation of history and stories. Decorative boxes often hold photographs, papers, and keepsakes, and by creating a box that is configured with old photographs and found objects, Sunni exhibits a functional sculpture that relates to the common admiration for collecting meaningful objects.

Sunni Mercer, MFA, NCIP Sunni Mercer is an NEA Regional Fellow with experience in studio art and interpretive design. Her signature work is assemblage sculpture and conceptual /community art in context installations. Sunni’s work has shown throughout the country and internationally and is archived at the Smithsonian Institution. She has received numerous awards and grants in both art and interpretive design included among them the NEA “Artists & Communities / America Creates for the Millennium-National Registry. Sunni states, "“I am a maker of sight poems.”