Branches, rope, twine, thread, and ceramic sculptures by Chelsey Pettyjohn, 2023
A wolf lurks in the underbrush with near-silent footfalls. The witch waits in her lair, sharpening a knife. Silver-tongued monsters whisper enticements to travelers from beside waiting stewpots. For when knowledge runs dry, imagination fills the gaps, and it is only in the world of children’s stories that fear and violence can so quickly give way to mirth. This is a limitless place where death has no sway, and where reality is suspended long enough to believe that no matter what might happen, good will come to those who wait.
The first of a duology of installations in collaboration with Chelsey Pettyjohn that references the cosmology and magical realism of children’s books from the 1800s and early 1900s.