Fairy Ring with White Clover

Patrick Jacobs creates small portals that invite viewers in for intimate moments of discovery and introspection. At first glance, Fairy Ring with White Clover appears to open a lens onto a photographic landscape. A closer look reveals something more strange and enthralling—a verdant meadow in miniature. Jacobs builds his dioramas out of disparate materials like copper and hair, but the end result is so coherent as an environment that it blurs perceptual distinctions. With the title of the work, Jacobs references ancient folklore about naturally occurring circular growths of mushrooms in forests and fields. Legends attribute these rings to the dancing of fairies and warn that mortal beings who cross their thresholds may lose their grip on reality.

Patrick Jacobs

2010

Mixed media sculpture: paper, acrylic, extruded styrene, copper, acrylic gel medium, hair, steel, acrylite, tin, lighting, BK7 glass 3-inch exposed lens

Lens: 3 inches; Box: 22.25 x 12.25 x 10.25 inches