Jack Balas, 2013; The Coconut (#915); oil on gessoed paper; 22" x 30"

text:
"I mailed my parents a coconut from Molokai ten years ago, picked one off the ground, wrote their name on the side, took it to the post office, put a stamp on it and off it went just like that, sort of like a ship in a bottle. So when I found it years later cleaning out their house, I took it off to my own basement where it's sat for years while I try and figure out what to do with it. Now whenever I'm back in Hawaii I pick up every coconut I find, looking to see if maybe there's an answer."