Odds and Ends

Bronze Foot from the Bloody Countess’ Bathtub (inspired by the life and legend of the Countess Erzsébet (Elizabeth) Bathory) – Antique apothecary bottle; genuine antique bronze bathtub foot in the shape of a winged lion; dried thorn branches; antique cameo of young woman’s profile on gilt chain; amber glass bead; embroidered, sequined and beaded French ribbon; colour print of Bathory coat-of-arms; black and white print of thorns, ©2008.

"Scot D. Ryersson's symbolic extension of the mythical Countess Báthory is wonderfully disturbing. Casting aside the tired Countess portrait, he reimagines her as objects, in some ways, the very objects that her servants became ... that is, objects of her terror. By removing her humanity, Ryersson removes her power without erasing her fearsome presence. Certainly it is no less chilling nor more abstract than, if you will, looking at dabs of paint that congeal into a countenance, but its very abstraction invents a symbology for her, a transformation to "it"-ness. Ryersson's bottle, bathtub foot, thorns, cameo, beads and ribbons represent the mundanity of terror, even as it remains the symbol of a myth."

—Dennis Báthory-Kitsz, composer, author, and descendant of Elizabeth Bathory

- www.bathory.org

The Doorbell from Rosemary Woodhouse’s Bramford Apartment (inspired by Ira Levin’s 1967 novel, Rosemary’s Baby and Roman Polanski’s screenplay for the 1968 film of the same title) – Distressed gilt frame shadowbox; genuine vintage New York City apartment doorbell; vintage celluloid baby rattle; dried sage branch; vintage Scrabble tiles; rusted tacks; old paper; black and white print of old door; altered art pieces—“Le Diable” tarot card, hand-stained photograph of the Bramford Apartment building, “Tannis” label, ©2012.

—Collection of Susan Fernandez, Bridgewater, NJ, USA

Specimen of the Gill-Man’s Gills Scavenged from the Wreckage of Ocean Harbor Oceanarium (inspired by the film, The Creature from the Black Lagoon (1954) and its sequels) – Large vintage apothecary jar with glass lid; genuine fish gills; beach sand; sea shells; beach rocks; polyester resin; altered art pieces—ticket to Ocean Harbor Oceanarium, flyer for the Gill-Man’s appearance at Ocean Harbor Oceanarium, ©2009.

—Collection of Stephen Banes, St. Louis, MO, USA

There’s a Sucker Born Every Minute… (inspired by the archaic medical practice of leech bleeding) – Antique milk-painted wooden frame; dried leaves, pods, and seeds; black walnut shell; old bandage gauze; rusted tacks; watercolours; hand-stained vellum; colour print of eighteenth-century porcelain leech jar; colour print of old wood; colour print of antique linoleum flooring; colour print of antique sterling salt shaker, ©2015.

Sperma ex Triffidus celestus (inspired by John Wyndham’s 1951 novel, The Day of the Triffids) – Antique purple glass apothecary bottle with original cork; dried seed pods; piece of rotted tree branch, ©2012.

Ölen Sie von C.A. Rotwang’s Maschinenmensch (inspired by Fritz Lang’s 1927 film, Metropolis) – Vintage crystal perfume bottle, silver-leafed, with its own silver-plated traveling case; machine oil, vellum print of art deco mask, chrome shadow box frame; solid steel screws; colour print of rusted metal; mat board; black and white print of Brigitte Helm as the false Maria Robotrix from Metropolis, ©2009.

Sally’s Scraps, Spools & Sewing Notions (with a hint of deadly nightshade) (inspired by Tim Burton’s 1993 film, The Nightmare Before Christmas) – Vintage pressed-glass candy jar; antique wooden spools; antique hat pins; genuine autumn leaves; large sewing needles; black thread; felt & silk fabric scraps; faux snow; “Jack Skellington” enamel face charm; paperclay; black paint; white paint; watercolours; black and gold cording; black wired ribbon with hand-drawn design; white wired ribbon with hand-drawn design; withered “deadly nightshade” leaf, ©2010.

—Collection of Kerry Kelemen, Thiells, NY, USA

Nightmares or Dreams? Madness or Sanity? The Flotsam and Jetsam of Jessica’s Last Summertime Idyll (inspired by the 1971 film, Let’s Scare Jessica to Death) – Antique apothecary jar; antique scrap of tattered lace and tulle; old paint chips; dried flowers and water leaves; hand-stained kitchen twine; vintage tissue paper; hand-stained vellum; old print of gravestone rubbing; colour print of Victorian tintype of a young woman in a lace dress; hand-aged photograph of old house in Old Saybrook, CT, ©2015.

"Wonderful, really delightful! I am flattered by the piece."

—John Hancock, director of Let's Scare Jessica to Death

Enigma—An Exculpation for Alan Turing (inspired by the life and legend of Alan Turing) – Hand-distressed frame; nickel-plated thumbtacks; cardboard; hand-stained vellum; hand-stained print of, photograph of Alan Turing; hand-stained print of photograph of Christopher Morcom; colour print of photograph of male nude by George Platt Lynes; colour print of Enigma machine nameplate; colour print of image of skull apple; colour prints of vintage photographs of Bletchley Park; colour print of Alan Turing’s “Christopher” computer; colour print of decoding printouts, ©2016.

A Lamentation for Jacob Cullen (inspired by Maria McCann’s 2001 novel, As Meat Loves Salt) – Antique red satin-lined, window jewelry box; antique hand-painted genuine vellum folder; antique key, black grosgrain ribbon; Charles I silver coin; lock of genuine black human hair; broken piece of red stained glass; strip of antique paper; dried flowers and plants; dried lily pod; antique wooden printer’s letterpress block; genuine desiccated Cryptotympania Aquila cicada, ©2010.

"I'm struck by the way the Arcanifact has picked up on my book's claustrophobia: a box (with all its resonances of secrecy, sexual space and so on) does feature in the story but here the events themselves (including the final message) are symbolically imprisoned, just as in the novel the events are trapped within the cramped consciousness of Jacob Cullen. The key sealed inside the box is poignant. The use of red is also exactly right, with its connotations of passion, rage, and blood. I particularly like the nature morte of the leaves and the reversed C, hinting as they do at reversing, mirroring, otherness, literacy, printing, identity, pastoral fantasy, time and death, all important elements in the novel. It's fascinating to come across such a 'reading' of my book."

—Maria McCann, author of As Meat Loves Salt

The Obliviscence of James Howlett (inspired by the character of Wolverine from Marvel’s X-Men comics and films) – Antique Canadian explosives crate; faux bone claws; pair of vintage forceps; glass test tube; black rubber stopper; chrome paint; bone specimen microscope slide in plastic case; vintage Wolverine ginger ale bottle; vintage 1940s O’Keefe’s Canadian beer bottle cap; genuine Canadian army World War I uniform button; Canadian military dog tag and chain; Cuban robusto cigar butt; rusted tacks; 1948 American copper “wheat sheaf” penny; antique World War I lead toy soldier; tree branches; pine branches; pine cones; black walnut shell; theatrical snow; theatrical blood; ice-blue LED light; altered art pieces—Canadian army World War I discharge paper, Canadian World War I dental exam paper, Wolverine car advertisement, Second Boer War newspaper article, Canadian World War I recruitment poster, Canadian World War II recruitment poster, maple farm photograph, Xavier Institute for Higher Learning logo sheet, Alkali Lake postcard, slashed manila folder, adamantium beta label, pair of X-rays, cage fight poster, “Lone Wolf” cigar label, Canadian Bohemian Beer label, 1910 Canadian Logging postage stamp, 1926 National Geographic cover, J.B. Laliberte Fur Establishment label, “Lucky Dog” hockey stick label, Valtine Meat Globules advertisement, Adams-Powell Timber Company advertisement, ©2010.

Joseph Merrick: A Three Act Tragedy (inspired by the life and legend of Joseph Merrick, the Elephant Man) – Handmade, pen and ink, antiqued cardboard and paper vellum Victorian toy theatre, based upon an original design in the collection of the Theatre Museum, London; battery-operated miniature white lights; pewter figurine, ©2010.