013 LATCHKEY KIDS

IN THE STUDIO:

HILARY TAIT NOROD INTERVIEWS STEPHANIE TOD HUNTER

recorded on Instagram on

May 22, 2020

Hilary Tait Norod interviews Stephanie Tod Hunter, who is as is a multi-disciplinary artist based outside of Boston, MA. Her work captures the “lost-in-place” feeling of 1970’s latchkey kids.

In The Studio, a series of virtual studio visits organized and made by artist Hilary Tait Norod, is a way to learn, share and connect more deeply with artists.

 https://www.instagram.com/tv/CAgAxWalN_U/?utm_source=ig_web_copy_link

“I started working on the Latchkey Kids Project in 2014.  The backbone of the series is an ongoing succession of plaster coated vintage dolls, each re-colored and re-named.  The plaster-encased girls (reminiscent of Han Solo encased in carbonite) begin as vintage Dawn Dolls from the 1970s.  These dolls were only made for a brief amount of time and are generally only remembered by the GenX generation.  Dawn Dolls are smaller than Barbies and, although they have exaggerated waspish waists and perky breasts, are “tweenish” in age.  They were small, generic, easy to carry and easy to lose…I draw on many of the motifs common to American childhood in the 1980s:  isolation, stranger danger, missing children, parental neglect, and Lord of the Flies-like adventure in small town suburbia.  I find it interesting to contrast these themes with those found in contemporary parenting: constant stimulation of the internet, helicopter parenting, snowflake children,  and online bullying—all of which are creating a new form of isolation among kids.”  

-Stephanie Tod Hunter (quote from her website)

For more information about Stephanie Tod Hunter’s artwork:

 https://www.stephanietodhunter.com/

For more information about Hilary Tait Norod’s artwork:

 Website: www.hilarytaitnorod.com