Sativa Novak
Fine Arts (Studio Art)
Photograph: “Drink Me,” 2008

Literature is rife with stories of protagonists—like Alice—who in the course of their journeys encounter unusual objects in their paths. A fourth place award went to an entry that gives a brief glimpse into the lab of the mad (and altogether unseen) alchemist of Alice in Wonderland. The work area is stocked with vials full of colored liquids, octopi, exotic herbs and spices, granulated powders, and a bottle of mind-altering absinthe. In the middle of it all a flask labeled “Drink Me” alerts viewers they are getting a privileged look behind the scenes at the ingredients that went into the foods Alice eats near the beginning of her great adventure down the rabbit hole.