The Setup
I wanted to mirror the effect of the rabbit hole that Alice falls through. I feel as though the rabbit hole is a space of serenity and chaos, like being in the eye of the hurricane. I wanted to create a space someone could walk into and feel engulfed yet safe, almost like a cocoon.
The Butterflies
I have always been infatuated with butterflies. Something about their beauty and symbolism has always drawn me in. In previous art classes at urban, I also included butterflies in many of my pieces. No matter what I do, butterflies are still always somehow incorporated! For this piece, the butterflies represent the transition into adulthood. Leaving high school, we are breaking out of our cocoon and blossoming into butterflies (cringe I know).
The Drawings
I had never spent much time with colored pencils, so this whole process was a learning experience for me. I started with watercolor and plain pieces of paper, then colored pencil drawings on plain paper, then went to a local book store and found a beautiful old edition of Alice's Adventures in Wonderland. The book had gold lining on the sides and intricate illustrations. I found it difficult to bring myself to rip out pages, but luckily for me there were plenty of extra pages that I could use. I chose to draw tangible items that were symbols of childhood, such as stuffed animals and a tea set.
