The sculpture Curl (2008), part of the Notes on Self series, explores themes of self-containment and vulnerability through physical measurement and material symbolism. This pair of boxes, crafted from box elder and shattered tempered glass, serve as physical metaphors for the artist’s body. The exterior dimensions of each unit precisely match the artist’s height, width, and depth while in a curled fetal position. In sharp contrast to the exterior, the shattered tempered glass spewing from each box is measured to the artist’s body volume. The box elder wood was carefully chosen for its skin tones and sheen. Its dark spalting scars, formed where insects attacked the living tree, are a key element, symbolizing the natural cellular barriers and self-protection mechanisms a living organism creates in response to external attack.