SPIKE DEANE

‘Into the woods’ (2011) is a mixed media installation of hot cast glass, hand-cut paper silhouettes and projected stop motion animation. With these materials, I use the familiar narratives of folk and fairy tales to explore themes of individual transformation and metamorphosis, of ‘becoming’, and of change. It was inspired by a lifelong interest in storytelling and how the narrative of folktales touch the lives of almost everyone, sometimes without us even noticing.

 

The work is based around 7 cast glass objects portraying aspects of the landscapes common to many folktales: the enchanted wood, distant mountains, caves and rivers. Into this landscape, I introduced familiar and unfamiliar animated characters who make journeys around, into and through the glass environment. They are the characters of myth and legend who are transformed by the journey itself as much as by the experiences each has.

 

I wanted to create a work that responds to the proposition of Professor Jack Zipes who says that the key purpose of folk and fairy tales is, “[they] seek to awaken our regard for the miraculous condition of life”[1]. I want to arouse people’s sense of wonder by creating a work that draws upon childhood memory and encourages viewers to reflect on the transformations at the centre of every human journey.

 

[1] Jack Zipes. When dreams came true: Classical fairy tales and their tradition. (New York: Routledge, 1998), p. 5.