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Pounding Branch

Lit Gallery, Chattanooga, Tennessee, April 12-27, 2018

Site-specific installation. 10’8” deep x 12’ wide x 12’ tall (triangular base) diorama

Fairytales served as a balm to Frieda Carter’s homesickness for her native Germany. Her brainchild, a collection of dioramas depicting Grimm’s classics, opened in 1955. The sculptural masterpiece, Fairyland Caverns, can still be found at Rock City in Chattanooga, Tennessee. Looking to commemorate a local fairytale harkening to her complicated feelings regarding an upbringing in the Tennessee Valley, the artist chose to illustrate the story of the milksnake. The wive’s tale features a serpent who would steal milk right from a cow’s teat. Pounding Branch is a site-specific installation illustrating the moment a farmer would string the milksnake from porch rafters to reclaim the prized lactation.

This installation was funded by a Chattanooga Artists Work Grant. A mask workshop for the community (pictured) accompanied this installation.