Angela Baker

I started collecting keys about 10 years ago with the intent of using them in an art piece somehow. A couple of years ago I was looking at my own keys & was struck by how many I’d acquired without really trying; prevalent on the key ring: home - 3, studio-3 & day job - 10.

I also observed closely the subtle differences of color, shape, & the way some of the keys were more rounded at the edges from repeated use. I thought about how this small, nearly ever present object could represent larger ideas: trust, independence, responsibility, obligation. All of this led to the idea of the circular compositions, key mandalas, as representative of daily cycles; tracking our journeys from home, to work, to school, to studio, etc. I wanted them to be maps of days or experiences. This idea is in line with the traditional role of mandalas which were considered abstract representations of places that Buddhist practitioners could enter.