#000072

Boy in Closet

16" x 20"

Acrylic on canvas paper

Dec. 2009h happened to me in the dark; I remember being terrified. Once I kicked on that door and it popped open and what I faced outside that door made being inside of it less horrible. How it was set up -- the line down the center of the back of me would be the crack from where the two doors came together. My brother had learned to use tools in shop class and that allowed him to place a pole outside the door and prevented me from opening it. After a while, I made up games to distract me from the heat -- it was really hot. I think there was a boiler in the basement under this closet. I also needed to keep my mind off of the bugs in there with me.

This is an image of being locked inside what we, as kids, dubbed the hotbox. In the beginning it was terrifying. Unable to get out. Then I realized why would I want to get out? I was hungry. I was hot. I was alone in the dark. But the boogie man was outside that door.

What happened to protecting and nurturing a child? Maybe the hot box was protection and I was nurtured into exactly who and what I was meant to be. (Giclee only)