1998
Renovated Mushroom

Renovated Mushroom (Tip-Top Tire Rubber Patch Kit), 1998. Cibachrome print, 27.25 × 39.5 inches. (69.2 × 100.3 cm).
My maternal grandfather Lale’s toolshed in Finland was a meticulously well-organized wunderkammer of hardware and salvage. Once, after his death, I found a pristine bicycle tire patching kit there, which I used to “fix” a torn mushroom in the woods nearby, and I photographed the results. It’s also an homage of sorts to him, as he was a master at repairing broken objects, and we live with many relics of his attention to and love of mending.