Atlantica - 01.02.2006, Qupperneq 20

18 AT L A N T I CA
Warm up your cold hotel room with do-it-yourself nichos.
When I was a teenager, I read a magazine interview in which a supermodel
complained about the strains of living in one bland, impersonal hotel
room after another. But, she said, she had a few secrets for making rented
digs feel more like home; she traveled with candles, incense, tapes of
soothing music, and plenty of room spray.
My thoughts at the time were twofold.
First, I thought that living out of hotel rooms was an enviable problem to
have.
Second, I resolved that if and when I had occasion to feel perpetually
far from home, I too would become a master of on-the-go, guerrilla-style
nesting.
By now, I’ve moved around enough to appreciate the comforts of home,
and the importance, when possible, of taking one or two of ‘em with you.
I’ve also learned that the model was right: hotel rooms lack color and humor,
big-time.
So I humbly present an item that addresses both issues. Behold… the
hotel-room shrine.
The project draws its inspiration from two Mexican folk-art forms, retablos
and nichos. Retablos are small paintings on wood or tin-coated iron, depicting
a saint or other object of devotion. Traditionally, a retablo forms the
centerpiece of a small altar in the home. A nicho is a small cabinet, either free-
standing or mounted on a wall, that holds a small sculpture, or even a whole
sculptural mise-en-scene. The whole nicho is a personal altar. Like retablos,
nichos often portray religious themes, such as a saint who can be invoked
to address spiritual and temporal problems. But even religious themes are
frequently handled with whimsy and great detail, such as depicting St.
Francis with a bright yellow bird on his shoulder, cradling another yellow bird
in his arms like a sleeping baby.
For my hotel nicho, I chose a picture of my sister – not a saint, but definitely
a face I’d like to see when far from home. That’s the important thing for this
project: to fill a tiny cabinet with items of personal significance.
on the fly
LOVE WHAT YOU’VE DONE WITH THE PLACE
Illustrations by Lilja Gunnarsdóttir
Here’s what you’ll need to make your own take-anywhere room shrine:
» A container. I chose an empty mint tin.
» Personal photos
» Scissors, X-acto knife, ruler, pencil, paintbrushes
» Decorative papers or magazine pages
» Clear-drying glue
» Stronger glue for sculptural work
» A variety of small sculptural items: small fake flowers, labels, fabric
swatches, plastic toys. Anything goes; time to clean your drawers.
» Optional: acrylic paint and brushes.
1. Gather materials; think about the overall effect you want.
2. Decoupage. Choose a paper or combination of papers that you’d like to
cover the outside of the tin. Cut paper to fit the top, bottom, and sides of the
tin. Glue it in place with clear-drying glue, then use a brush to gently coat the
top of the paper with more glue. Several coats may be needed. Let dry.
3. Prepare the inside of the tin with more paper or a coat of paint; I used a
glossy red acrylic. Let dry.
4. Get your nicho photo and cut it to the desired size. Paste it where you want
it in the deeper side of the tin. (Orient the tin upright, so that the lid opens like
a door.)
5. Embellish! There’s no need to go for a traditional look—pick any aesthetic
that moves you, from minimalist to baroque to camp. Think about how to
capture the spirit of home. Choose objects that are playful, comforting, lucky.
6. Almost done. After the paint dries, fill the remaining space, if there is any,
with other shrine necessities: a tea light and matches, a few short sticks of
incense, a vial of scent.
Seal it up, and you’re ready to go. Slip the traveler’s nicho into your luggage and
voila! – when you get there you’ll be able to instantly civilize and art-ify at least
one corner of your temporary domain. a
Text by Katherine Sharpe
009 airmail Atlantica 206.indd 18 21.2.2006 11:49:22