I'll huff and I'll Puff

First Friday along the Frankford Arts Corridor is really hopping lately. It's in no small part to the new addition of the Philadelphia Sculpture Gym at Berks and Frankford Aves. This month they've invited Terri Aluise, a fresh graduate from PAFA to exhibit her fairy-tale-inspired mixed media sculptures. I'm a sucker for anything fiber arts, and I think Aluise creates quite successful juxtapositions between hard and soft sculptural materials.

 While I enjoyed the materiality of the objects in the exhibition, what really made me fall in love with it was Aluise's sense of humor and spin on familiar fairy tale stories. The big bad wolf  is skinned and laid out like a bear-skin rug. The 3 little pigs sit contentedly on her piles of building materials.

 The 3 bears sleep soundly on their just-right bed no longer disturbed by naughty girls (a mat of golden braids graces the floor at the foot of the bed).

 And the ugly duckling has blossomed into a rainbow of a swan, leaving the other ducklings puny and drab.

I enjoy the nostalgia of stories from childhood. It's remarkable how a single object can draw up a whole narrative in one's memory. I've always hated to finish a book, because I want to know what happens after "The End". Aluise gives a very satisfying extension to these favorite tales. For more on Terri Aluise visit an article about her show, and her website (with way better pictures than I snapped here).

I can't wait to see what shows up next at PSG!