Baba Yaga and Bird Feet

I am totally intrigued by bird feet; the gnarls and scales and claws...beautiful.
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When I moved into the residency, I felt a little overwhelmed because, well, they've been generous enough to give me carte blanche on my work, so it was like...FREEDOM!  Horrible, horrible freedom!  So many ideas trying to get through that they're all getting stuck in the doorway...
But then...
This one idea that has been floating around my brain, a fairy tale I used to act out in full every day, playing all of the parts, losing myself in the story...the tales of Baba Yaga, a witch who lived in a house on chicken legs.

That image just gets me in my brain space.  Always has.  For numerous reasons.  Ornithologically (Audubon-i-cally?), yes of course, but also the woman as witch, the old crone, somewhere in there both the sacred feminine and the damned whore; for me, there is an unavoidable thread of feminism running through my work, and in this, the iconic Baba Yaga has always struck a chord with me.

But, still, where to start?

At the bottom.  So I started sketching feet on homemade and scrap paper with other found items.  (points if you identify the chicken feet.  I know, too easy.)  From here, who knows?  There may be a build in my future, a performance, a video projection.  Stay tuned.  

​Come and visit some time.