Ellery Lewark

I am interested in the act of authorship and the double-story within it—that of the fiction and that of the creation of the fiction. Barriers between the personal and the performative, the real and the magical, the autobiographical and the fictional all become blurred. I have found there is no genre more autobiographical than fantasy. In a memoir, the most devastating and embarrassing details are often negated, leaving the reader to question what was left out, and the story that has been crafted: the fiction of non-fiction. In the realm of magic, we are struck by the reality within the fiction, the truth-encrypted metaphor.

In my current series, I am both the author and main character of a cautionary visual adventure. The style is informed by film and theater with dramatic bright lighting, shot sequences, and cinematic composition. The subject is fantastical, in particular working with Medieval and fairy-tale phenomena within the contemporary world. The images become darker, more colorful, and abstract as my character wanders further off the path of ‘reality’. We question whether it is a fairy tale or a confessionary journal of hallucinations. Each piece of the series furthers the story, mounting evidence for events which are seemingly unfolding in my personal life. As my life progresses, I propagate snapshots of a world parallel to my own.