STAYED TOO LONG IN THE CROOKED FOREST

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STAYED TOO LONG IN THE CROOKED FOREST is the third and final piece I had in the GRIM(M) show in October at Bainbridge Arts and Crafts. We were asked to make work that had a distinct haunting feeling or had something to do with the darker side of the Grimm Brother's fairy tales. You can read more about the show and see my other two pieces in the two previous posts.


This is the image I used for the two young men who found themselves being absorbed back into the forest. This photo is by Costica Acsinte, a photographer in the early 1900's who lived in Slobozia. I am totally enamored with his photography of everyday people in his city/village. There is something so authentic and absorbing about the photos....that they are in the public domain and are copyright free is only a bonus.


And here is the photo of the crooked forest. I think I took this photo on a back road somewhere between Quilcene, WA and Shelton, WA. All the texture ... and various shades of green ... and little ferns popping up here and there were just what I was looking for. At first I tried to take a forest shot with all the trunks, via photoshop, having a slight bend in them to represent the crooked forest ... and then I came to my senses. The longer I practice art and the older I get, I realize that being literal is NOT what it is all about.....at least for me.

As with the other two pieces I made for this show, I printed with archival inks on thin gampi paper and then glued the paper down in a tiled pattern. Once everything was sealed with pva archival glue, I used cold wax as a final finish.


On the side of the cradleboard which measures 18" x 24" x 1.5" I made two brackets out of copper that each hold a test tube with a cork stopper. Inside the test tubes are specimens taken from the crooked forest. In real life I stepped outside to my old King apple tree, about 20 feet away, and selected two little twigs that were covered with lichen. I do like adding a little scientific/biological twist to things.