Adrienne & Katey: Milk Glass, Batman Toys, Antique Makeup, Fairyland Keys, Eyelashes & Wheat Pennies

Jars & Moms

Adrienne: I used to collect rubber ducks. And then that’s all you get for Christmas from every family member for the next 30 years. I had 200.

I purged them in a giant art project at Mills. We filled the fountain in the middle of the Tea Shop. I put all my ducks in it and just walked away. I was like Yup, not mine anymore. I have a couple bad pictures. I should have documented it more because every time I went back people would have pulled them out and put them in different arrangements. Hopefully I won’t get ducks anymore. 

Zoe: Do you have feelings about collecting vs hoarding?

“With the cat whiskers—I’m kind of collecting them with the intention of using them for something.”

A: Yeah. I guess I haven’t really thought about it in that sense, but I've definitely had trouble deciding if I should or shouldn’t keep stuff over the years.

So much of what I have, too, is not just old, but is old from my family. And you know change happens in every family, but I feel like a lot of what happened in my family wasn’t my choice. I grew up with my mom who was a single mom, and spent most of my time at my grandparents’ house which is a beautiful old turquoise Victorian in Oakland. My mom was one of four kids. So, when it came to choices about my grandmother moving and her health options and wellbeing, four people were trying to be democratic about this other person. I felt so left out of that conversation. I was like, "I don’t think you can decide what's best for this person" and disagreed with a lot of the choices they made…especially moving her out of her house and leaving it empty for so long. A lot of what happened when she was moving out was me being—I was hoarding at that point, I was like, "Put everything in boxes. It's all mine. You are just going to throw it out? No!" I have sentimental attachment to everything, so that is like, I don’t know, I tried to make it even worse what they were doing because I was like, "you're doing it to me!” So now, it has gotten to the point where I’m picking and choosing between the things that actually have sentimental value, so that I can also decide which memories and associations I’m going to keep in my space.

I collect cat whiskers. We do cat rescue and I grew up with a lot of cats, so I have kind of a creepy amount. With the cat whiskers—I’m kind of collecting them with the intention of using them for something. Oh there is a cat tooth in there, too.

I like making shadow boxes and filling boxes with weird shit so I collect...plants and keys, pop tops—this originally started 'cause I was like, "I'm going to collect enough pop tops to make a shirt out of them or something" and then, by the time I had enough I was like, "I don’t want to do that"...but I still collect them. 

“But when it comes to my grandma’s old lipstick containers, I'm like this is the coolest thing ever and not trash at all.”

Jars of stuff. I love it. 'Cause I collect jars, too, so I fill 'em with stuff. 

I used to have like all my toys and jars and stuff on shelves. but it just got so crazy looking. I like rearranging stuff and redisplaying things and, you know move different jars to the front depending on what I've been staring at forever. I got rid of a lot of bottles and jars when I moved, which I kind of regret 'cause now I could have covered the top of that cabinet in them. I'm sure I'll get there again.

I got rid of a lot of the plastic dinosaurs, too. My mom has toys everywhere in her house, so a lot of it was like, "I'm not going to keep this dinosaur; do you want it?" So she has a lot of them now.

The pop-tops and the keys, they're not from my past. They are just interesting in repetition and they are kind of a raw material for me. The milk glass as well, like some of it has sentimental attachment, but in growing the collection it’s more about the kind of objects not so much each thing. But when it comes to my grandma’s old lipstick containers, I'm like this is the coolest thing ever and not trash at all and it’s not about all lipstick or all old lipstick, it’s specifically the family things. 

Z: And your mother collects, too?

A: She is more of a hoarder. Lots of stuff—paper, boxes, cats—um, I mean I think in a way it is very similar to mine where she likes things and she's an artist. She really appreciates the aesthetics of so many different things, but her collecting is not limited by the reasonable amount of space it could take up or its function. So, I honestly think that 90% of the stuff is seen probably once a year. 

Z: So, do you think your relationship with collecting— familial-ly speaking—has more to do with your grandmother than your mother?

A: Yeah. 'Cause my grandma's house was packed to the gills with stuff too—there were so many generations raised in that house—but it was always organized and in its place. I'm collecting things more from the part of my life when I lived with my grandparents.

Z: What does she do with the toys?

A: She just has them. Everywhere. Shelves. Bookshelves. On top of shelves. They're not in any order or anything. They are just kind of everywhere.

Katey’s Eyelashes

Katey: I also collect things. 

{Katey pulls out small glass tube, similar to film canister.}

Z: What's that? 

K: This is my eyelashes. 

Z: How many years have you been doing this?

K: Only like a year...but I've been picking at my eyelashes purposely for a while. It’s kind of a neurosis type thing. It was Adrienne who convinced me to start saving them. 

A: I was like, "Here's a jar." 

“ I've gotten to the point where I can like feel where they land if they land on my skin.” 

K: I thought it was a great idea. I think I was like, "I should start saving them”, and then she put that in my hand. I don’t save everyone that I pull out of my face, but I wish I did cause this pile would be so much bigger. I like to pull them out and then play with them. 

It was teenage years that I started. Probably sixteen.

Z: Do other people give you their eyelashes?

K: I almost don't want to contaminate it with other people's eyelashes. Though, I think one of Adrienne’s eyelashes is probably in there. 

Z: What if you find one on your face?

K: That counts. If this [vial] is around me I'll put it in. 

Z: When you find one, or pull at your eyelashes do you get excited and need to find the bin?

K: Yeah. 

A: I mean, excuse me for interrupting, but she also spends a good amount of time with the eyelashes she picks out. She's not just like, "Oh, eyelash" and throws it in. She's like, "Oh, look at this one."

K: Yeah, I like the feel of it between my fingers and I like to try and squish them without them flying away. The thicker and the longer ones are way more satisfying than the smaller ones. 

Z: If they fly away, do you look for them?

K: I've gotten to the point where I can like feel where they land if they land on my skin. 

I think this is a cool looking thing. It's also kind of like, I feel like I'm neurotic in a lot of ways and this is the one way that's physical that I can look back at. 

Z: Do you notice yourself doing this at particular times? Like when you are particularly stressed or when you are...

K: I used to think it was connected to stress, but now it's just a default-even when I'm bored- thing to do. I definitely need to stop after a while, 'cause it does start to hurt. My eyes get puffy. 

Z: Do you think you are going to see if you can fill this entire jar?

K: Yeah. Definitely. 

K: I go through spurts of, "I gotta do more, and then I need to stop this."

Z: What else do you collect?

K: Just wheat pennies. They have wheat on the back of them, so before 1950s.  I like all types of different coins, but the wheat pennies are best. I take these out of the register at work. 

A: I buy them from the registers at work for her. 

K: The boss's wife gives them to me too, so I'm pretty sure he doesn’t care. 

Z: Do you know how many you have?

K: I thought I had more, but then I put them in this vase and now it looks like way less. 

Yeah. I don’t really know why. I did start collecting coins as a kid and then my grandma got me whole books of new mint quarters, and I wasn’t interested in the new ones, but I think it started with foreign coins. It reminded me of places I might be able to travel someday. These are European and Canadian. And then these are like really exotic American ones. This is a super old quarter. These are probably the most exciting to me. 

Z: Do you have any secret motivation behind why you collect coins?

K: I think it’s actually become more neurotic. 

Z: Is it a good thing to have collecting to express that kind of neurosis? 

K: I think so. I clean a lot, too.

Adrienne Suzio (she/her) is an Oakland native & Mills College graduate. She is an artist, volunteer, puppeteer, avid buyer of knick-knacks, & is a firm believer that everything is better with cheese. She lives with her partner and their beloved cat Red Fish. 

Katey O'Bara (she/her) doesn't like talking about herself so her girlfriend is writing to tell you that Katey is from Texas and went to Mills and loves their cat.