Dragon Tales
This summer in the studio, we’ve been inspired by the whimsical, colorful, and magic-infused tales of Grace Lin as we create our own sculptural dragon puppets. Grace’s exhibition explores a wide range of themes - from food and culture to myths, legends, and magic. With so many creative avenues to explore, we found ourselves consistently drawn to the figure of the dragon.
Upon deeper exploration and research, we discovered that the dragons in Grace’s art are not only visually distinct from those often seen in Western culture – they also serve very different roles in storytelling.
In Western film and literature, dragons are often portrayed as fearsome creatures, often obstacles to be conquered. In contrast, Eastern dragons – though equally powerful – are depicted as kind and noble, using their powers to guide and support characters on their journeys.
From ferocious to noble, one thing is clear – folks love these magical, serpent-like creatures. We thought this was the perfect opportunity for these amazing dragons to share their tales (and show off their tails)!
Materials
Grace’s use of color is truly inspiring. She uses bright blocks of color that somehow never feel flat or stagnant. Upon closer inspection, many of these color blocks are filled with subtle patterns decorated in a lighter hue of the base color. This delicate layering brings a sense of movement and energy to her work. We wanted to honor that thoughtful use of color and design in this project. To do this, we repurposed bright neon papers – originally created with drawings for a past exhibition – as collage paper bases.
We created glue plates for crayon rubbings to help add texture to our collage papers, drawing inspiration from both dragons and Grace’s artwork. We looked closely at the borders in Grace’s exhibition, packed with intricate patterns and swirling backgrounds, to create our own collection of dragon-inspired rubbing plates.
Grace Lin, Illustration for Where the Mountain Meets the Moon (Little, Brown Books). Courtesy of R. Michelson Galleries. © 2019 Grace Lin.
We pulled color swatches from Grace’s exhibition when selecting paints, papers, and crayons, helping to create a visual connection between the studio and the gallery through color.
Check out our Dragon Tales Booklist with magical titles to help you craft your own dragon. What type of dragon will you create?
