Rapunzel

I have always loved books. I am entralled with not only the act of reading, but with the smell of books and the feel of paper. As a child I had a book that was a comendium of many of the Grimm's Fairy Tales. This book did not contain all of the tales, and was very sanitized of course.

Years later a college English professor talked about Grimm's Fairy Tales and their true nature. I read the unabridged version for the first time. In Grimm's Fairy Tales, murder and mayhem abound, as do traditional gender roles. For years Grimm's Fairy Tales have provided me with creative sustenance for my artwork and poetry.

In the tale "Rapunzel," the heroine is imprisoned in a tower by an enchantress. Rapunzel is eventually saved by a king's son and the story concludes with the happy outcome that all women supposedly long for: marriage and children.

In my artwork above, which is part of a series based on Grimm's Fairty Tales, there is something different going on. It's still the same beautiful and passive heroine and those are definitely male hands tugging on Rapunzel's braids. Yet her demeanor and the angle of her head, speak to the weight of responsibilty and conflicting needs and emotions that a relationship and children can bring to a woman's life, along with all of the joys.