 Bunny masks on the workbench. The one on the right is the only non-white rabbit mask I've made so far. | Between the fall of 2009 and the fall of 2012, I made just about nothing except bunny masks. And with only one exception, *white* bunny masks. And with only one exception, all of these were commissioned pieces, by customers who found me through Facebook and Google searches. I'm afraid to actually list these masks for sale because I'm *sooooo* ready to start making other things! What was it about The White Rabbit and Alice in Wonderland anyway? Somehow, I think the first thing that comes to most people's minds is drug induced hallucinations a la "Jefferson Airplane". |
| According to good ol' Wikipedia, Lewis Carroll meant for The White Rabbit to be a foil to Alice. In his article "Alice on the Stage," Carroll wrote "And the White Rabbit, what of him? Was he framed on the "Alice" lines, or meant as a contrast? As a contrast, distinctly. For her 'youth,' 'audacity,' 'vigour,' and 'swift directness of purpose,' read 'elderly,' 'timid,' 'feeble,' and 'nervously shilly-shallying,' and you will get something of what I meant him to be. I think the White Rabbit should wear spectacles. I'm sure his voice should quaver, and his knees quiver, and his whole air suggest a total inability to say 'Boo' to a goose!" Good ol' Wikipedia lists other interpretations of The White Rabbit's character. In the 1951 Disney movie version, the White Rabbit plays the straight man to all the other crazy Wonderland residents. In the 2010 Tim Burton film he is a leader of an underground resistance while he works for the Queen. The most interesting one in my book is in the 1999 movie "The Matrix" where the White Rabbit and Wonderland serve for metaphors for "waking up" (Neo is told to follow the White Rabbit, he finds a woman with a tattoo of a white rabbit on her shoulder, and Morpheus offers him a red pill to "find out just how deep this rabbit hole goes.") |  My poor kid had the same size head as the customer. Here I'm trying the mask on her for size after she got home for school, before she has a chance to take her coat off. |
 | The way I myself saw the White Rabbit was something of an inspiration, a muse to follow on unplanned and unexpected adventures, especially of a creative, artistic, and just a little bit goofy kind. The customer who commissioned the original sculpture, however, wanted something intimidating, vaguely threatening, not in the least bit goofy or (God forbid!) cute and cuddly. I can't help but think that it is this vaguely threatening expression that has contributed so much to the success of this mask. Maybe it's unsettling or even frightening to follow our inspirations, and God knows where we might wind up. Hopefully in the end the Red Queen will at least let us keep our heads! |
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