Yes. Now. Kaleidocycles: artist's box

This is one of my more unusual commissions: I was asked to create a gift for the client’s husband to mark their wedding anniversary. It started out as a book but morphed over time into a collection of kinetic kaleidocycles with word pairings dotted throughout them.

My client compiled a list of words that reminded her of their relationship. Using a selection of these words I created pairs – like little word poems. Each kaleidocycle consists of 12 words, all related to each other in some way. The lightest-coloured kaleidocycle has half-hidden words – representing possibilities yet to emerge in the future.

A kaleidocycle is a three-dimensional ring made from a chain of solid figures enclosed or bonded by three or four triangles. The dutch artist Escher popularised these mathematical puzzles, using them to make his patterned work come alive.

The box uses an extract from the poem “View #8″ by Thomas Centrolella as inspiration. The poem is blind-embossed on the inside of the box with “Yes. Now.” embossed in relief on the outside. These words create a wonderful sense of expectation when opening the box.