Video Documentation of

Fairy Suspended, 2021

Indigo Howland

In a darkened space, illuminated like a beacon, giant wings recently unfurled from a chrysalis imitate those of a life-size fairy. Hand sewn and hung by tea stained lace from a C-stand. Glass and plastic beads littered across the wings and dripping from them like droplets of water frozen in time. Below, rests a portal-like circle of clay mushrooms, projections of dripping hands and splashing water playing inside. All the while the white noise of water plays through the projector’s speakers. This installation is made up of elements of tangible textiles, video and light projection to create a fantastical narrative around the concept of how memory exists in it’s own subconscious, metaphysical space and it’s ability to provoke powerful emotion and nostalgia, particularly for childhood. Ultimately inspired by a cocktail of a recent, personal influx of nostalgic memories, the Cottingley Fairies hoax of 1917, Petra Collins & Alexa Demie’s “Fairy Tales” (2021), and my own, fairy-obsessed, childhood self. This work is intended to be read in vastly different ways, depending on each viewer’s own, personal experiences.