Wonderland during the Pandemic
Artist Statement
The global pandemic has sabotaged our previously fixed sense of reality. Things unimaginable in 2019 may have become the new reality in 2021. Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland resonated with me deeply in the recent two years. The Mad Hatter is right: Time is a person with an unpredictable temper. We all had to change so many times each day that sometimes we felt lost in our identities. In Carroll’s book, every mundane thing—a rabbit hole, a tiny door, and an afternoon nap—leads toward a fantastic world. Trapped alone in my apartment, I would suspect that the TV screen, a crack on the wall, or even the bathroom sink might promise a gateway to the outside. Nevertheless, it comforted me to believe that an alternative world conceals somewhere at home.Through this series of illustrations, I imagine what Wonderland may look like if Alice visits during the pandemic. I use traditional materials—ink and watercolor on paper—to reflect a child’s mindset. I have never received professional training in fine art. So I would like to think my way of drawing retains my intuition from childhood. Drawing on the illustrations by both John Tenniel and Lewis Carroll himself, I explore the changes that not only Alice but also everyone else in Wonderland has to go through. The queen may find it difficult to chop off people’s heads since now everyone stays at home. But she will seek some other means to claim her authority. The rabbit hole may close temporarily to visitors, but the rabbit will still deliver a sense of adventure to whoever pursues it.
After I finished the drawings, I realized that only adults divide imagination from reality. In a child’s world, all animals talk. Imagination is not a utopia generated by adults’ pragmatic mindset or a panacea to our troubles in real life. As Carroll depicted in his book, imagination is bizarre, dangerous, and yet so much fun. That is how children perceive the complex world. In that sense, Alice’s adventures in Wonderland are very realistic.
As the brilliant poet, Louis Gluck writes, “We look at the world once, in childhood./ The rest is memory.” When today’s children grow up and look back to their years during the pandemic, I hope my drawings capture their memories.