Winged Secret

The Secret

a new winged key assemblage

Ssshhh... it's a Secret...

The Secret: winged key assemblage by Laly Mille

Here is my latest assemblage piece in the "winged keys" series. It's a bit different from the other ones because it's the key-hole that's at the center this time. The papers are pages from a french schoolbook with images and words of Little Red Riding Hood, and handwritten lists of workers from a 1906 construction site.* They speak of the duality between the world of childhood and the world of adults, the feminine and the masculine, of initiation.

The Secret (detail) : winged key assemblage by Laly Mille

In the middle there is a little girl, maybe Little Red Riding Hood, or maybe Alice, or maybe a bit of both? Sometimes she is too big, and sometimes she is too small. Just like the key. The world around her keeps telling her "Eat me", "Drink me"... fix me, do this, do that, fit in, grow up.

The Secret (detail) : winged key assemblage by Laly Mille

But she looks through the key-hole. At you, at me, at her own "wonderland" of possiblity. What if she crossed to the other side? What if she were not afraid of the wolf? What if she were the key? Maybe initiation is not just about letting go of childhood to become an "adult". Maybe the "secret" is about welcoming the little dreamer that lives within us, our inner child, vulnerable and brave, innocent and wise, and gently opening the door, inviting her to play...

The Secret (detail) : winged key assemblage by Laly Mille

Have a beauty-full day everyone!

*(a big thank you to Marie-Aimée at AlterTheTime for the gorgeous paper!)