Antique ring boxes are transformed into little theaters in Toronto-based artist Talwst’s dioramas, where wonderfully detailed scenarios unfold on a minute scale. When a seller at a Paris market offered him an old ring box and said, “I want to see you do something with this,” the artist began his unusual pastime. Talwst transformed it into a coastal scene with a woman dressed in a black vintage bikini, and so began his outstanding series. “I want the audience to be transported to another universe when they open the box,” he explains.
Although the images are often inspired by current events and individuals, the location within the antiquated ring boxes and the time-honored skill of diorama-making give the landscapes an antique appearance. Surprising modern twists are included into some of the most charming sequences, such as a horse-and-buggy scenario with a McDonalds sign gently floating in the backdrop.
The ring boxes are commonly used by the artist as little reflections on current events. For example, he depicts Michael Brown’s death in a drab brown cage surrounded by police officers who are blasting firearms (the smoke is cotton). Working inside the limits of the boxes helps him to concentrate on finer details, giving him a sense of control and the opportunity to make changes.
“The modest scale of the work allows me to do a very specific form of meditation,” he explains. “The overriding topic concerns time and space, as well as my perceptions of the immensity and fragility of the environment in which I live and my transient recollections of it.”
