My Idea Of Heaven - The Original

This is a very different interpretation of Cinderella based initially on Aschenputtel (Cinderella) written by the Brothers Grimm. It is a much, much darker version - awful in places, even for me! What we all know and love from the Disney version is so far from the reality here it is scary.

This piece is a classic example where I build a secondary narrative into the piece that then takes over and consumes the image, albeit it making it much more beautiful. There is no fairy godmother - instead a pear tree that grew on Cinderella’s dead mothers grave whilst birds flocked together as one to destroy the ugly sisters in a way you would not think possible.

So this piece runs in line with the overriding concept that pushes Cinderella into that coach and that gets her to the ballroom to ultimately be rescued by her Prince yet it represents so much more, to me and hopefully to others who can find affiliation to the concept.

The doves, an incredibly poignant detail throughout my work, come together when one simply isn’t enough in the hope that working together they can make the difference as they desperately try to help the person who has fallen, who sees no way out, before it is too far gone. A beautiful title for a beautiful act, good will win out if the shoe fits, and it does in this case, perfectly.

The hope was to create a piece that makes you change your opinion on the girl out of view, we can be so quick to judge and dismiss. I try to encourage a closer look, for clues that create empathy towards the young woman. Is she a monster, or is she the victim of the cards that she has been dealt?

So for this piece entitled ‘Fear Is How I Fall’ it sets a scene that can either be the prequel, or sequel depending on how you view it. Have you walked into her room before her downfall, where you notice the contributing factors starting to blow in from the world outside? Or are we actually in fact seeing her after being rescued once again by her Prince who simply could not walk away like others who had already done so.

If you favour the latter you will notice that cracks remain, clouding the clear. Do her phantoms still stand tall behind her? Her wounds, they will not heal. The title ‘Fear Is How I Fall’ suggests fragility, bringing with it empathy. There’s something inside her that pulls beneath the surface, consuming, confusing.

This is a classic example of how I strive to show the proximity that darkness resides to light, where one can so easily fall back yet equally walk clear. Will good win out? Will she live happily ever after? I really hope so!