Here is a video of printing three linocuts for the Firestation Print Studio in Melbourne, opening September 25th – 10th October 2015

I have titled this series of works – Curiouser and Curiouser
Alice in Wonderland is a story filled with imagery which I have loved since I was a child. In this work I seek not to illustrate the story but to take elements of that symbology and reinterpret it from my own experience. To me the rabbit represents knowing. Sure he might be late but he knows where he should be and what time he should be there. Wonderland is an confusing place for Alice she never knows what to expect what is coming next.
The rabbit seems at home in this environment, he knows what he is doing. Alice wants that knowing. In my images as Alice searches for the rabbit she is searching for knowing, sureness, and confidence. The rabbit is elusive. She wants these things so much; she even has a rabbit trap. She wants to capture the unattainable.
Life is full of uncertainty, in my work, Alice’s journey through wonderland is a search for meaning and a knowing of self. The desire to get into the garden seems impossible, she is the wrong size, she doesn’t have the key; she meets crazy characters who seem nonsensical to her. These are metaphors for life’s difficulties, which we all must navigate. Aren’t we all trying to get into that garden.
When I was a child, my old fashioned grandmother would have the family over for afternoon tea, she was not a wealthy woman, she never owned her own home but she did own beautiful silverware and fine bone china. The cups and teapot in these images are taken directly from those that were passed down from my grandmother. She baked delights, and she crocheted lacy edgings onto tablecloths. Afternoon tea was an important ritual for her long before high tea became fashionable. In a world of uncertainties and difficulties, of which she had many in her life, afternoon tea was one thing it was possible to get right. And she was completely inflexible about what right was. 🙂
Why has Alice remained such an enduring character? Why is high tea, crochet and baking cupcakes enjoying such a resurgence? Are we trying to experience the tangible, physical world instead of cyber space, or like my grandmother are we trying to have some control to make things right?
I hope these images from Alice’s world, somehow relate to you in yours.
Interested to hear your comments.
See Shana’s Linocuts click here
Find out about Shana’s Linocut workshop in January click here