As a child fascinated by storybook worlds, I found the Brothers’ Grimm “Hansel and Gretel” to be one of the most enchanting tales, especially the children’s discovery of the woodland candy cottage. Although built by a witch, as a sculptor, I have always been in awe of her confectionary creation. I have longed to recreate her edible storybook home, wishing to mix and bake all the sculptural elements, creating a site-specific, enchanted and audience interactive space, incredibly enticing and welcoming each visitor with all their senses. Always enchanted by the storybook setting of the natural landscape, my proposal is to turn the façade of one of the cottage studios into ‘the candy cottage.’ I plan to design, bake and build a gingerbread candy cottage to overlay one of the cabin studios, attaching all the home-baked gingerbread and confectionary elements with royal icing: including gingerbread exterior wall shingles, marshmallow shutters, brownie bricks, meringue and gumdrop accents, all topped with a vibrant, kaleidoscope mosaic cookie tile roof. Much as the witch intended (but without the eating of children) this will be an interactive installation, offering visitors and guests the opportunity to nibble on the confectionary cottage at the exhibition. The façade of any cottage could be transformed into the confectionary cottage, ideally located out in the woods, though any cabin anywhere could be transformed into the confectionary installation. While measuring the studio and designing the confectionary façade, I will cover the exterior surfaces with clear vinyl. Then I will prepare and bake the gingerbread, cookies and confections in a local kitchen, shifts. Once baked, I will arrange and adhere the baked sculptural elements with royal icing, siding and roofing the studio with a vibrant mosaic of confectionary. The durable and long-lasting gingerbread elements will be baked and attached first, following with the cookie tiles and then the confectionary accents. The particular architecture will allow for integrated confectionary elements, including gingerbread-style trimmings and stained glass cookie curtains, completing the illusion that this is, in fact, the witch’s woodland candy cottage. During a recent artist talk, a student asked what I would create if I could create anything; instantly I knew: my dream project is the witch’s candy cottage in “Hansel and Gretel,” always believing that this will be one of my most incredible and captivating storybook spaces, offering a sweet vignette to the visitor, reality reshaped into candy land, all composed of all natural, hand-baked confections.
As a child fascinated by storybook worlds, I found the Brothers’ Grimm “Hansel and Gretel” to be one of the most enchanting tales, especially the children’s discovery of the woodland candy cottage. Although built by a witch, as a sculptor, I have always been in awe of her confectionary creation. I have longed to recreate her edible storybook home, wishing to mix and bake all the sculptural elements, creating a site-specific, enchanted and audience interactive space, incredibly enticing and welcoming each visitor with all their senses. Always enchanted by the storybook setting of the natural landscape, my proposal is to turn the façade of one of the cottage studios into ‘the candy cottage.’ I plan to design, bake and build a gingerbread candy cottage to overlay one of the cabin studios, attaching all the home-baked gingerbread and confectionary elements with royal icing: including gingerbread exterior wall shingles, marshmallow shutters, brownie bricks, meringue and gumdrop accents, all topped with a vibrant, kaleidoscope mosaic cookie tile roof. Much as the witch intended (but without the eating of children) this will be an interactive installation, offering visitors and guests the opportunity to nibble on the confectionary cottage at the exhibition. The façade of any cottage could be transformed into the confectionary cottage, ideally located out in the woods, though any cabin anywhere could be transformed into the confectionary installation. While measuring the studio and designing the confectionary façade, I will cover the exterior surfaces with clear vinyl. Then I will prepare and bake the gingerbread, cookies and confections in a local kitchen, shifts. Once baked, I will arrange and adhere the baked sculptural elements with royal icing, siding and roofing the studio with a vibrant mosaic of confectionary. The durable and long-lasting gingerbread elements will be baked and attached first, following with the cookie tiles and then the confectionary accents. The particular architecture will allow for integrated confectionary elements, including gingerbread-style trimmings and stained glass cookie curtains, completing the illusion that this is, in fact, the witch’s woodland candy cottage. During a recent artist talk, a student asked what I would create if I could create anything; instantly I knew: my dream project is the witch’s candy cottage in “Hansel and Gretel,” always believing that this will be one of my most incredible and captivating storybook spaces, offering a sweet vignette to the visitor, reality reshaped into candy land, all composed of all natural, hand-baked confections.