installation view of the "Vreeland Lacquers" at The Japan Foundation Toronto, 1999

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 36" x 12 inches 91.5cm x 30.5cm Translation: "My blindness is a result of looking at too many beautiful things." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 24" x 12 inches 70cm x 30.5cm Translation: "To be contented, that's only for the cows." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 30" x 12 inches 85.25cm x 30.5cm Translation: "He spent the entire war praying for the bombs to drop so his ducks would have a pond to swim in." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 60" x 12 inches 152.5cm x 30.5cm Translation: "The bikini was the biggest thing since the atom bomb." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 24" x 12 inches 70cm x 30.5cm Translation: "Worse things happen at sea." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 66" x 12 inches 167.75cm x 12cm Translation: "Asparagus should be sexy and almost fluid." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

24K gold leaf, lacquer, cedar 48" x 12 inches 122cm x 30.5cm Translation: "In my end is my beginning." (from the memoirs of Miss Diana Vreeland)

lacquered slate, chalk calligraphy 48" x 32¼ inches / 122cm x 82cm translation: "We are not descended from monkeys but, monkeys and humans come from a common ancestor." —from the diary of Charles Darwin

Lacquered slate, chalk calligraphy, bird droppings Translation: "Competition in nature causes species to alter, only those whose mutations are most appropriate to their surroundings prosper." (from the diary of Charles Darwin)

Lacquered slate, chalk calligraphy Translation: "Natural forces control all." (from the diary of Charles Darwin)

Canadian maple wood, nails, sumi ink, lacquer 12" x 12" x 1.25 inches 30.4cm x 30.4cm x 3.2cm Edition of two Translation: "The nail that sticks up will be hammered down."