Getting closer to finishing the assortment of things that will go into this year’s Mardi Gras Surprise Boxes. The paper maché animals are completed, and today I worked on hand painted bookmarks. I also started choosing some of the art that will go in the boxes, and I decided that these two collages I made for my art show, Ghostly Images, would definitely be fitting. When I made these ghost-themed collage pieces, I was thinking of identity and transformation – things I think about often and which are a big part of my work both in my art and my writing. As some of you know, I like to write about characters that do quite a bit of shapeshifting, such as the notorious Miss Vulpe, and I’m no stranger to changing pretty much everything about my life periodically myself. As I was thinking about Mardi Gras today, I figured this theme of transformation and embodying a different version of oneself goes really well with it. After all, Carnival invites us to put on a disguise or mask and to become the loudest, most colorful, most celebratory characters we can be. It’s all about letting loose, but also about exploring and role-playing. In a more festive, relaxed, and hedonistic world, who would we allow ourselves to be?
