The relationship between a mother and her son is explored here using objets trouvé found in Japan—-a wooden altar tray called a sanbo, an archival abacus and the cover of a Japanese sumi brush box. To western eyes, the relationship between mothers and sons in Japan appears almost uncomfortably intimate. This work was inspired by the  Japanese folk tale, Ubasute, a famous story about a son who carries his  elderly mother on his back to the top of a mountain to leave her to die. As he climbed, his mother scattered grains of rice so he could find his way back down the mountain. When the son learned about his mother’s kindness, he was so moved he picked her up and carried her back home where he cared for her for the rest of her life.