This piece was created in response to an article in the 'Guardian Weekend' (01.12.07) which told the story of the cast bust of an unknown young woman which became known as 'Inconnue de la Seine'. Supposedly cast as a death mask from a suicide case retrieved from the River Seine, doubt has recently been thrown on the veracity of this claim: her beautiful features are calm and smiling peacefully. Whether death mask or life mask, she was certainly used as the model of the life-saving doll 'Resusci Annie' created in the 1950s.

I have enclosed the purchased bust in a constructed, perforated box lit from within. I wished to both protect the enigma surrounding the 'Inconnue' and illuminate her mystery. "The real mystery... speaks a secret language [and] is a 'secret', i.e. known only through vague hints but essentially unknown."(C.G.Jung 'Religious Ideas in Alchemy' in 'Psychology and Alchemy')