Amy Cutler

Amy Cutler's exquisitely detailed scenes of women, animals and hybrid beings engaged in otherworldly drama lure the viewer into an enigmatic realm populated by figures with elongated noses, tea-kettle heads or broomstick arms, some wearing altered hoop skirts. She takes inspiration from stories and images encountered in the media, and then mixes them up with Persian miniatures, army survival guides, nineteenth century illustrations, folktales and personal experiences. Her works, which include gouache on paper, paint on wood panel, and drawing, have been described as "snippets of Laura Ingalls Wilder, Hieronymus Bosch and Masterpiece Theatre." Her scenarios are often funny and just as often uneasy--for instance, despite or because of the loving care they give, one group of her women subjects watch as their snowmen-companions melt away. This is the first book on the work of this young Brooklyn-based artist.