Melony E. Bronder
Fine Arts (Studio Art)
Paintings, 2005

This triptych of oil paintings takes as its inspiration the short “Jabberwocky” poem found in Through the Looking-Glass (and which is reproduced around the border of the three artworks.) In the first panel, Bronder depicts on a hillside the “slithy toves” mentioned in the first line. These were, according to Humpty Dumpty, a combination of badger, lizard, and corkscrew. In the trees above sit agitated borogroves (which Carroll once playfully described as a kind of extinct parrot that lives under sundials and feasts solely on veal). The middle and right panels depict the dragon-like Jabberwock vanquished and decapitated by the vorpal sword of the nameless young hero. The creature’s appearance is reminiscent of the famous illustration by Sir John Tenniel in the original 1871 publication.