Merry Monday - Kirsty Mitchell's Wonderland

Detail of The Ghost Swift from Wonderland , a book by Kirsty Mitchell

Last summer an exhibit of photographs by London artist, Kirsty Mitchell opened at The Paine, our local art center. It was titled Wonderland and definitely lived up to it's name. Along with her beautiful artwork were videos documenting the massive amount of work involved in their production, from the handmade costumes and props to the small army of helpers stringing cables and creating smoke. At the heart of it all is her love for her mother and their shared passion for reading. Wonderland grew out of her grief after losing her mother to cancer and is a beautiful tribute to her memory.

This show was one of the rare instances where taking photos and sharing them on social media was encouraged as opposed to being strictly forbidden. So one day I grabbed my camera and set off in the middle of the week expecting to have the place pretty much to myself. Oshkosh is a small town and there's generally more interest in football than anything else, so it was a pleasant surprise to find that even on a Wednesday afternoon the gallery was packed. In fact the exhibit has broken all sorts of attendance records and was even extended for a few extra weeks.

The Last Door of Autum

Capturing the beauty of these photographs was impossible, as you can see by the ghostly reflection in the upper left. Fortunately, we are lucky enough to live in the cyber age and it's possible to visit Kirsty Mitchell's fantastic web site and view her extraordinary work as she intends it to be seen. Her photography and videos are there along with the diary of her journey, so a visit to Wonderland is closer than you might imagine!

a photo from Wonderland , a book by Kirsty Mitchell

There was no question about whether or not to pick up her fabulous Wonderland book and in late summer we learned that there would be a visit from the artist herself! Unfortunately, we couldn't make it to any of the events at the Paine but did manage to get to her Q&A held at the university one evening. She is a lovely person with tons of enthusiasm and a great sense of humor. I could have sat there all night and listened to her talk about her work. It was standing room only in one of the big lecture halls with a huge group of fans from Pennsylvania and others from as far away as California.  

A Twist in the Tale from Wonderland , a book by Kirsty Mitchell

Spenser loves big picture books, especially the ones with other four-legged beings.

She'll Wait For You in the Shadows of Summer

It's hard to come up with an adequate way to describe these works of art. They seem to inhabit a long lost fantasy world because of their deep ties to nature, yet with their undercurrent of life and death they feel very real and in the present. Kirsty Mitchell has taken photography to a place where it rarely goes, I can't explain where that is but I can't wait to see what she's going next!

This week I'm finally getting to join Marfi at Incipient Wings for Merry Monday.

I'm happy to get to share the photography of Kirsty Mitchell with all of you.

Hope everyone enjoyed the weekend, thanks for stopping by!