slashings and trappings

working on resolving some "display issues"- trying to both hone and open up the narrative- to set a  stage but not tell any particular story.
this time, the chair will be shown facing the wall (on which will be mounted a mourning embroidery from the museum's collection). the wall is to be partially obscured by a slashed window sheer which will hang at a short distance from it - situated across the lap of the chair, the curtain is cut to ribbons - with longer, wider slits framing a vignette toward the center. the view through the curtain would be best accessed if one was to be seated in this (inaccessible) chair- the side views are obsolete because the curtain will hang across the opening to an inset in the gallery wall. .
the same curtain sheers were used to create the little bombs that carry the broken china set. 

i've incorporated some of the window sheer scraps into these weepers

Frank is suspicious of the aura.

working out the details..-
 the (cut to ribbons) window shear will be hung across the top of the opening of
an inset in the wall of the gallery.
the inset is approx. 4'wide x 1.5'deep-
so the curtain would be about a foot closer to the wall behind it
on which will be hung
a mourning embroidery from the museum's collection.
(got that?)

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Also, I started the bear trap "replica":

paper mache victorian snaggletooth
in process...

raiding my own pantry

In the collection of Historic Northampton, there is an iron beartrap made by a local blacksmith. I've been wanting to incorporate this image into my upcoming show. My initial impulse was to have it interacting with an empty fur-collared coat (one of many that have been handed off to me- this one belonged to my maternal grandmother). I wanted to convey some menace, struggle, but... also ascension and near by-the-skin-of-one's teeth escape. I've animated the garment in a way that I feel relates somewhat to clumsy storefront displays (something's just not quite right- and one of the hands is missing a thumb...) and have it struggling to grasp a line of tied-together baby dresses (also of my family lineage) . I was planning to have the coat just barely ensnared, hanging just above a replica of the trap...
I couldn't figure out what this "ladder" (as in tied together sheets a damsel might fashion out of her bedding and either escape out the window or commit suicide by means of hanging herself with) is attached to/ leading to.
And then,
I decided to raid my own pantry- like a bear looking for honey, I put my fist in the hornet's nest.
Or something.
I haven't decided if the beartrap will actually interact directly with this element, or if this is its mirror.

and then there's this:

frank is all business all day every day