The Metabolism of Humming Birds, c. 1970

A self-taught and notoriously reclusive artist, Cornell frequented flea markets, bookstores, and thrift shops gathering the mundane materials—children’s toys, maps, jars, stamps—that make up the miniature, uncanny worlds of his shadow boxes and collages. Although the individual elements of these works may seem banal, the deft placement and poetic juxtapositions of objects, texts, and images invite viewers to piece together open-ended narratives by considering how the incongruous components relate to one another. Cornell’s collages sometimes take on painterly qualities; their built-up layers were allowed to crack and peel, resulting in rough and worn textures that add to their nostalgic and melancholic quality.