EXPANDED LABEL: PAPAPETROU / ‘Wonderland’ series 2004
By Amanda Slack-Smith
‘Fairy Tales’ March 2023
The role of family is central to Polixeni Papapetrou’s interpretation of Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland (1865). In her ‘Wonderland’ series of 2004, Papapetrou posed her daughter Olympia as Alice in the character’s iconic blue-and-white pinafore, enacting a series of moments from the book, inspired by its original illustrations by John Tenniel. Each scene features an elaborate and colourful background painted by Papapetrou’s husband and Olympia’s father, art historian and critic Robert Nelson. Presented here are four works from the series. In these vivid and fantastical photographs, Papapetrou carefully constructs images that readers of the book will recognise, such as Alice’s first sighting of the White Rabbit (Burning with curiosity); her conversations with the enigmatic Caterpillar (I’m not myself you see); the eerie scene of playing cards coming to life during the croquet game (Flying cards #2), and a confrontation with the Queen of Hearts (Off with her head). Papapetrou spoke of these images as collaborative works that tapped into the imaginative creation of identity in children’s play, layered with a nod to the storied history of children as subjects for art, not least in Lewis Carroll’s own photographic practice.
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