For their first collaborative project, Death’s Boutique, Los Angeles-based artists Kara Tanaka and Marco Rios investigate death by delving into profound subject matter with both humor and sincerity. The artists’ research led them to Sweden to investigate the origin of Promessa, the newest and most ecological burial technique, and to Lithuania, the country with the world’s highest suicide rate. The installation for Death’s Boutique mimics an elaborate stage set and adopts unconventional materials to create hybrid sculptures that mine an intimate, personal psychology. The artworks also investigate the styles of attending to death and their relationships to the broader culture in terms of social behavior.