The Slipping Nymph

Lead Student Presenter(s)

Julie Scharf

Abstract or Description

The Slipping Nymph is an original fairy tale about a young river nymph who is destined to become a minnow once they mature.  Unsatisfied with that prospect, the nymph undergoes transformations, shapeshifting in the hopes of finding a creature that they would like to inhabit for life.  The story is a trans narrative and an allegory for queerness.  It is heavily rooted in the body.  The river creatures exchange vertebrae as currency and there is a binary established between vertebrates and invertebrates, endoskeletons and exoskeletons, a binary that is challenged.  

A preliminary version of the tale was developed, designed, and filmed as a submission to the Prague Quadrennial where it will be displayed in the Emerging Artists exhibition this summer.  The story was borne from the costumes, elaborately made from sustainable materials such as discarded CDs and old furniture bags.  Using the visual world established in the video, the characters and environments are further developed through watercolor illustrations, achieving a level of intricacy and fantasy that could only be captured in two dimensions.  The hybrid nature of mermaids and nymphs already lends itself to conversations of genderlessness; The Slipping Nymph draws it out, like water from a well.

Mentor

Susan Tsu and Stephanie Murray