{"product_id":"hip-hip-hooray","title":"Hip Hip Hooray","description":"\u003cmeta charset=\"UTF-8\"\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eOil on canvas · 40 × 30 in.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchorContainer\"\u003eA birthday cake becomes a portrait of everything we carry with us.\u003cspan class=\"PDq2pG_selectionAnchor\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe eyes painted into each tier are inspired by the tradition of the \u003cstrong\u003e“lover’s eye”\u003c\/strong\u003e—small, intimate eye miniatures that became fashionable in Europe in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. Often exchanged secretly between lovers, these images allowed someone to carry the gaze of a beloved person close to them. They could also become objects of remembrance, including mourning pieces for those who had been lost. \u003cspan class=\"contents\"\u003e\u003cspan class=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp class=\"\"\u003eIn this painting, I wanted to expand that idea beyond romantic love. The eyes belong to the people and experiences that have shaped us: lovers, ex-lovers, friends, former friends, secrets, mistakes, and the versions of ourselves that existed alongside them. Like candles on a birthday cake, each year marks another passage of time—but the past does not disappear when we grow older.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eInstead, it accumulates.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe cake becomes a kind of \u003cstrong\u003earchive of memory\u003c\/strong\u003e: sweet, celebratory, and slightly unsettling. Each tier holds another layer of a life lived, reminding us that we cannot simply outgrow our past. The people we have loved, lost, betrayed, forgiven, or left behind remain part of us, watching quietly from within the layers of who we have become.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eWe age, but we never entirely leave ourselves behind.\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eNOTE: Please note this item comes unframed. \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Emma Shook Art","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51094567813367,"sku":null,"price":750.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0951\/9588\/9911\/files\/HipHipHooray.png?v=1788211891","url":"https:\/\/emmashook.com\/products\/hip-hip-hooray","provider":"Emma Shook Art","version":"1.0","type":"link"}