Pool of Tears 2 (After Lewis Carroll) (W. 123)

Kiki Smith has often turned to fairy tales in search of dramatic female personae and alter egos. The poignant vulnerability of childhood is an underlying and palpable theme in many of her images, including the present lot Pool of Tears II that is based on Lewis Carroll's manuscript drawings for Alice's Adventures Under Ground (1886). Pursued by a covey of furred and feathered creatures Alice swims for safety. The play and tension that Smith builds between young girls and animals pervades this scene as the protagonist struggles in a pool of her own tears with the duck, dodo and others. As an artist who prefers working on paper, Smith finds etching an irresistible medium for depicting fur and feathers and here she lovingly dwells on their textures. In order to represent the animals nearly life-size Smith drew on the largest copperplate ULAE's etching press could accommodate.