Swoon’s stop-motion fairy tales and Oracle Deck evoke the artist’s magic — Colossal
Caledonia Curry’s Story Sibilan sisters The story begins like many others in the fairy tale genre, although it only takes a few sentences to realize that something is amiss: “Once upon a time, on a swampy dirt road, two sisters, Kellum and Terra, grew up under the care of a spindly little witch named Katarina.” The story continues as the witchy mother begins to break down, prompting the siblings to rely on young Kellum’s magical powers to survive.
“This story is drawn from my own childhood, growing up at the end of a dirt road with a mother in the midst of a nervous breakdown, and a life spent teasing out the relationship between creativity, intuition, magic and madness,” the artist said.
Curry, better known by her previous name, has recently taken a narrative turn in her practice, transforming her interest in familial and intergenerational trauma into a sprawling mythological narrative. The project lasted seven years and involved multiple disciplines, including sculpture, installation, costume, film, etc. Many of the works can be seen as four-part readings, and they also gave rise to a set of 88 cards called “The Oracle of the Sibylants,” which contains symbolic images that are distinct from the artist’s practice.
These include renderings commonly seen in divination, including stars and smoking cauldrons, as well as more idiosyncratic objects such as a glowing ball rolling machine and a waving garden hose. “These cards are full of joy and tenderness in the midst of suffering, speaking the language of fairy tales, for there are truths that only witches and unicorns, ogres and toads can tell,” Swoon added.
The Oracle of the Sibylants is currently raising funds on Kickstarter, with videos showcasing some of the upcoming live-action and animated films. Keep up to date with the entire project—which Swoon envisions as a traveling exhibition, film, novella, and theater production—on Instagram.
