Flying Up the Rabbit Hole
Allen Chang
Artist Statement
By submitting an entry for the 16th annual Wonderland award, I hope to contribute to the illustrious collection of artworks which celebrate Caroll’s Wonderland, imagination, curiosity,and creativity.
My piece is a 2.5 dimensional acrylic artwork that is heavily inspired by the act of falling down the rabbit hole in Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland. This story scene implicates that few things are as they seem and allows Alice to ponder her whereabouts in life. Yet even though Alice is falling, when reading this scene, I tend to envy her position as she seems to begetting closer to the upside-down Wonderland.
In fact, if you look at this scene from another perspective, she’s actually flying, not falling. I wanted to create an artwork that combined these themes using a gyroscope-compass Alice,embedding Caroll’s motifs of amusement games like cards, chess, and poker chips. What a shame to see oneself as falling—when all one must do is relabel one’s personal compass!
Ultimately, while working on this research project I had a lot of fun and discovered many niches to Charles Lutwidge Dodgson’s personal life. I hope others can develop deeper appreciations for his worldly impacts on the concepts of maturity and life philosophy from learning about his letters, photography, and friendly relationships.