Mirror Mirrored (Reading Copy)

We all know the stories of Little Red Riding Hood, Snow White, and Rumpelstiltskin, and Rapunzel, but the Brothers Grimm collected over 200 stories in their lifetime. There is also the one about the theives who steal the moon, the shepherd who outriddles the King, the half-boy half-hedgehog who rides a rooster and raises pigs, the tailor who sneaks into heaven when God is away, and the ship that sails over a high mountain where its sailors miserably drown.

These are just some of the twenty-five stories selected for Mirror Mirrored. For each story in this book, we asked a contemporary visual artist to reimagine it in paint, sculpture, drawing, textile, design, or performance. After collecting these new works, showcasing them in galleries across the country, and weaving them into the book, we then reached back through time and found hundreds of old illustrated fairy tale books to collage into our new tome. Combining a new translation of these twenty-five tales by E. Yumiko Blackwell, the voice of 28 artists, and thousands of remixed vintage illustrations, we are thrilled to present the 384-page monster.

With a special introduction by New York Times bestselling author Karen Joy Fowler, we are presenting these classic fairy tales for a twenty-first century audience, when we need them now more than ever. These stories give us hope, open up our eyes to the possibilty of wonder and because, as Neil Gaiman says, they are “more than true: not because they tell us that dragons exist, but because they tell us that dragons can be beaten.”

Please enjoy samples from the book throughout this site from what, we hope, will be the first book of many.

Please note that due to copyright restrictions, Mirror Mirrored is only available in the U.S. at this time.

An example of the layering process used to create a single collage for Mirror Mirrored.