Articles Archive

Maiden, mother, monster

My son worries that a monster will come at night. This is a new concern of his, and I try not to connect it to his father’s absence. As I tuck him in, I tell him not to worry because the truth is monsters are very scared of mothers and won’t come anywhere near me. I’m too terrifying, I tell him, making him laugh. And cats too, I add, as ours curls at the foot of the bed, watching us. My son closes his eyes.

By Brooke Boland

A portrait photograph of a person's torso. The person is wearing an apron. They hold a broom in one hand and a basket of cleaning products in the other.

Grave years and the undead woman

MANY A MOTHER has found herself at the mercy of this false opposition between her needs (which are cast as selfish wants) and the countless supposed needs of her child. And whenever she falls short – gives in to anger or frustration or impatience, or the more convenient but ‘wrong’ way of doing things – she undergoes a transformation: Lucy Westenra, but yet how changed. Her fangs protrude, her nails lengthen. Clutched to her breast is a child she is harming, a child not rightfully hers.

By Tiffany Tsao

Instructions for killing monsters

I do know this: Never in the history of the world has any monster been defeated with fear. (Literally, never. I checked.) Ultimately, the only shields against the powers of destruction, death and evil are the qualities that come under the banner of love, which is the bright day to fear’s night.

By Sita Walker

The outsider

This series of mine features two traveling companions in fantastical landscapes, on the way to somewhere. The intention, destination and origin of their excursion are deliberately undisclosed and left to interpretation. I was drawn to depictions of the horse and cat specifically for their status and history as companion animals. I was also interested in the literary tradition of using these specific animals as placeholders and repositories for human characteristics, the horse often being loyal, determined and heroic and the cat often being independent and uniquely intelligent but prone to caution. For me these paintings are about the journey and what is required to undertake such a feat.

By Abdul Abdullah, Carody Culver