Memory Music Box “The Memory Box, homage to the fragile threads that tie families together, transcends the currently popular, psychologically self-obsessed constructions, that have meaning for no one but the maker. After her father died, Duval collected letters that involved her family, placing the letters in glassine envelopes. Betsy mailed them to her self. Slippery envelopes, missing stamps, and the vagaries of the postal service sent her hunting for some of the letters, all of which finally – arrived. “There are always loose ends in relationships,’ said Duval, so she left some slack when she threaded the letters together with tied knots and hanging strings. Taking four of her canvas paintings and making them into a large light-box, she cut out segments to make windows of family photos. On top of this she added another shallow box that opens from the top. Raising the lid causes music from her father’s era to play. Here lie the glassine envelopes that can be picked up and passed around by people who become connected by the physical act of holding the letters and by the implied attachments…Duval succeeds in touching a variety of senses with the piece.” Beth Surdut, The Middlesex BEAT