Mother is a love letter to Seth’s mother and the appreciation for collecting and beauty she helped cultivate in him. A portrait of her as a baby, two Deyrolle butterflies, Christmas ornaments and a handmade brass element bring together family history and objects given new meaning through their arrangement. Their connection to her lies both in their individual histories and in the attention Seth brings to choosing, keeping and composing them.

Medium: Assemblage
Materials: Framed baby portrait, two framed Deyrolle butterfly specimens, vintage Christmas tree topper, family Christmas ornament, brass rod, alphabet stickers and handwritten Data Frames
Location: The Rigley Field

Components and arrangement

Portrait and dedication
The baby portrait of Seth’s mother sits at the top of the assemblage. Its surface is Data Framed with “I love you,” establishing the dedication through which the objects below can be understood.

Deyrolle butterflies
Two framed butterflies sit beneath the portrait. Previously displayed as a separate arrangement, they connect the work to Paris and Deyrolle, a store Seth shared with his mother. Collecting these specimens over time becomes a way of returning to a place and an appreciation of beauty that connects them.

Christmas ornaments
The work began in June 2026, when Seth experimented with brass rods to make wall hooks for Christmas ornaments. A vintage tree topper and a family ornament remain from that original arrangement. As other ornaments moved into Be Quick and elsewhere in the room, this narrow space between the door frame and Ezra Ednas developed into a more focused dedication. The ornaments connect Mother to those other works, carrying her influence across the gallery.

Brass exclamation point
A custom brass rod curls into an exclamation point, ending with the family ornament below. Made by Seth, the brass introduces his own hand into the collection and marks it as something worth noticing.

Through this arrangement, the objects become a tribute to an inherited way of seeing. Their meaning grows from the care given to them and the relationships Seth creates between them, extending his mother’s influence through his own practice.