Ellen Cornett has new exhibition: Reception this Saturday

“Down the Rabbit Hole” is the title of this new show of works by Ellen Cornett, and, really, no other title would do.

Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland and Through the Looking Glass are nonsense literature, Ellen points out in her artist’s statement about the show. She says she started out thinking of this project in the order in which characters and scenes appear in the books, but she ended up going down a rabbit hole herself, creating pieces out of order as the inspiration took her.

And what a delightful rabbit hole it is!

The exquisite drawings range from a darling six-inch hedgehog and a few foot-high rabbits hopping along the baseboard to a number of five-foot characters, such as the Mad Hatter. I might say “life-size,” but who’s to say how tall the Mad Hatter really is in whatever life he had? (And I will confess here that the hedgehog and Mad Hatter are two of my favorites in the show—right up there with the old sheep knitting a sweater or whatever it is she is knitting.)

The opening reception is Saturday, March 15, from 6 to 8 pm. But you may go any Saturday from noon to 3, or any day by appointment: 202-487-8458. It runs through April 26, 2025, at Portico Gallery & Studios, 3807 Rhode Island Avenue, Brentwood, Maryland.

Below are a few of the pieces of art in the show, as well as some snapshots I took when I went to see it.