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Review: Altered Curiosities
by Jane Ann Wynn

This past summer, at Art Unraveled, I took a shrine class with assemblage artist Jane Wynn. It was an amazing class because, while I have made a lot of shrines, I never thought about them quite in the way Jane does. I never thought of actually building a box from scratch. I could never touch a dead bug, let alone use it as a focal point in my artwork. I have never been comfortable using two-part epoxy (scary! I might stick my hand to my face!). I never learned to cut a piece of glass to the right size. I rarely use a drill (except when goaded in class by a fellow student - Jeanne, you know who you are!).

And Jane's attitude is to be admired. She has this sweet, ladylike, yet childlike way about her. She finds delight in the oddest things. And she lifts your spirits simply by being around her. And for as pretty and girly Jane is, she sure likes a lot of untraditionally girly tools and supplies. And I love that!

But enough about my thoughts on Jane. This book, Altered Curiosities: Assemblage Techniques and Projects, will give you more of a window into her brain and heart than you'd expect. Every project in her book starts out with her explanation of how the shrine or jewelry piece came to be. Some of it just left me agape while I went on to read the instructions on how to make the piece.

My favorite part of the book is definitely the step-by-step instructions that accompany each project. It made it very clear as to how each piece was assembled, which helped me a lot as far as finding new techniques for my own shrines. I did find a few steps where I wished it was a bit more clear, but a few reads and some intent staring at the photos helped me find my answers.

Although there's a page full of resources in the back of the book, I wished for more. Jane has a piece where she enshrined a wisdom tooth. That excited me, because I have four of my own, waiting in the back of my jewelry box for the past 15+ years. But she had a mouthful of teeth she used in this project! Where did they come from????

That alarming thought aside, this book is lovely. The graphics and the photography are beautiful. If you are in the least bit interested in altered art, and aren't one to shy away from plain old weird (strike that, I mean unconventional), then this book is for you. I found a bevy of new ideas and techniques that I had never thought of before. I'm even ready to approach two-part epoxy again. It's not so scary anymore!

I will never be able to handle insects with the love that Jane does, but every single project in this book honestly made me think a bit differently and has me hoarding more shrine materials in my daily pursuits.

(Posted 1/11/08)