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In the fall of 2013, I was invited to be one of a small group of artists who participated in a collaborative project between the Artists Association of Nantucket and the Nantucket Atheneum. Artists were asked to choose a work from the library's collection and base an original piece on the existing work. Each artists was paired with a filmmaker who documented the piece and the process. The works and short films were displayed at both spaces.

 

Ship figureheads have always caught my eye and the merman blowing his conch shell poised in the Atheneum's stairwell became my muse as soon as the project was posed to me. In 2014, I spent a few months in Southeast Asia, all the while developing my design for "Dewey." I addressed his form by viewing the Atheneum as a ship and Dewey as the protective, good luck charm emerging from the bow. He borrowed his inspiration's merman form but has a childish innocence. His form is also inspired by Vishnu, the Hindu god tasked with preserving the universe.

 

Dewey's body is covered with  text from four of my favorite fairytales, the scales on his tail are typewriter keys and his drawer is overflowing with outdated due date cards from the library's collection.
 

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AAN Artists: Dani Henke, Clyde Meyers, Russell Wieland

Filmmakers: Grace Bartlett, Amy Jenness, Adelaide Richards