Mirror Mirrored
Mirror Mirrored is a passion project book we published, combining contemporary art with Grimms’ fairy tales, and collages of golden-age illustrations. We raised almost $30,000 on Kickstarter to publish the book and pay contributing artists.
Grimms’ fairy tales, originally collected in 1812, are a timeless chronicle not only of human nature, but also human possibility. The stories remain just as relevant today as when they were first published over 200 years ago. To introduce them to a new generation, we designed a special visual edition of the tales. Looking back in time, we compiled a treasury of vintage Grimms’ illustrations and collaged them throughout the book, and—looking forward—we invited 28 contemporary artists to add to this rich artistic tradition, including Kiki Smith, DJ Spooky, Carrie Mae Weems, Joseph Keckler, and others. Since publication, we have given numerous talks and been invited to art shows based on the book across the country.
“A great accomplishment.”
— Jack Zipes, Writer & Fairy Tale Scholar
“Artists’ books use intimacy and immediacy to convey pleasure and coax understanding, integrating conception, illustration, design and materials into a unique object of art. William Blake used the form to communicate his tumultuous visions, and in Jazz, the aging and ill Matisse used it to express treasured memories and deep convictions regarding line and color. The Mirror Mirrored coeditors, artist Corwin Levi and writer Michelle Aldredge, chose to use the artists’ book to make contemporary art available and accessible…. [S]ociety isn’t and never was purely sun or shadow, and the fates befalling bad characters never fully expunge the true menace—the reader’s fear of meeting, and failing, similar tests. Levi and Aldredge have created a volume that allows the potent complexity of these tales to continue speaking to the nuances and ambiguities of our time.”
— Art New England