Grimm's Fairy Tale Theater 'Hänsel & Gretel' by Bettina Pauly

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Grimm’s Fairy Tale Theater ‘Hänsel & Gretel’ was made as part of the limited edition artist book, the Small Plate program in 2016 for the 20th anniversary of the San Francisco Center for the Book. Growing up in Germany, listening to and reading Grimm’s fairy tales, this story seemed to be the perfect fit for the book. The structure of the book is an accordion fold that folds open in four pop-up scenes, creating the idea of a late 18th, early 19th century European toy theater. The main characters are paper dolls in a glassine envelope inside the phase box. Images are printed off linoleum blocks that are carved by the artist. The book starts with the dark forest, lit by a full moon. Next, the witch’s house. Followed by a pop-out cage. The ending is a burning oven and a clearing in the forest.

Artist Bio

Bettina Pauly studied at the Academy of Art University SF in the Book Arts and Letterpress program. In addition she took classes at the San Francisco Center for the Book. Bettina is living in San Francisco as a book artist and working as a letterpress printer at Painted Tongue Press, Oakland, CA. She teaches book arts and letterpress classes at the AAU and the SF Center for the Book. She loves books and boxes both as physical objects and as containers of meaning. She is interested in a variety of folded, sewn and woven structures in which she can incorporate her printing. Part of 'Al-Mutanabbi Street starts here' she contributed a broadside and an artist book. In 2016 she was speaking in Portland, OR, at the opening of the 'Al-Mutanabbi street starts here' exhibition. Bettina is one of the 2016 artists for the small plates edition at the SFCB.