Chuck Ramirez photographed a golden plastic candy tray in his Candy Tray series (2002-2008). True to form, Ramirez often focused on discarded or partially consumed items as his subject matter; this explicitly temporary object is one of Ramirez's leitmotifs. Candy Tray captures the luscious color and shine of commercial advertising, a connection that makes sense considering Ramirez's early graphic design training. Similarly, his subjects, resembling advertising, include consumable or partly consumed items; the gold of Godiva and other chocolate trays exemplifies how the company projects the fineness of its product, even if that attempt ultimately comes off as gauche.

Ramirez's frequent choice of a glossy white background for his objects—and the arrangement of those objects—is crucial. Floating without a hint of shadow, the chocolate trays appear "hung" vertically and face-on, which isn't how one usually sees such objects when they lay casually open on a table. The soon-to-be-disposed-of tray becomes an image of mystery. By discarding the common environmental accouterments associated with such objects, Ramirez places his image within a context relative to the art world, thus connecting it to a somewhat different set of references and concerns than the everyday. The Candy Tray's golden color also recalls Byzantine and Medieval icons, and accordingly, Warhol's 1962 Gold Marilyn Monroe. If Ramirez celebrates the impermanent, he transforms the temporary object into a permanent work of art.