Strong Box c. 1940

This is Chris Makrenos' "Strong Box", and it was made using wood. The different shades and grains come together in a really pleasing way, and you can see the process of making so clearly. There's this fantastic horse in profile, prancing along the front. The grain of the wood makes up its body, like it’s been trapped inside it. The concentric circles and diamonds all point to the horse as the centerpiece. It's also lovely that it seems almost flat, and the surface is relatively smooth and looks polished. Makrenos' piece reminds me of the work of the early 20th-century woodcut artist, Franz Masereel, especially in the way that he uses a limited palette and the grain of the wood to create a sense of movement and energy. The horse makes me want to put all my toys inside the box and run away. I think that's kind of the point of art, isn't it? To let us imagine, to play, and to feel things we didn't even know we could.