Little Red Riding Hood 

Editor: So, this is Scott Gustafson's oil painting, "Little Red Riding Hood." It gives off a surprisingly cozy vibe despite the tension of the scene. What stands out to you about this depiction? Curator: The appeal probably stems from the deliberate theatricality and its relationship with narrative. Gustafson places the familiar fairy tale in an ambiguous historical context. We see nods to genre painting, but it’s filtered through a distinctly modern lens, particularly how it frames and reframes the story for contemporary audiences. Editor: Can you expand on what makes the historical context ambiguous? Curator: The setting appears almost like a stage play. The heavy drapery, the patterned quilt, the wolf in grandma’s clothes, even the antique clock--they’re all familiar tropes pulled from centuries of illustrations and staged interpretations. This referencing makes it a bit timeless. It reflects how the story is constantly being reinterpreted within different cultural contexts and political climates, wouldn’t you agree? Editor: Definitely! It’s interesting how such a familiar narrative, when rendered with such detail, becomes this…commentary on the act of storytelling itself. Almost as if it suggests the narrative's flexibility across time. The wolf and Red look ready to jump out of a pop-up book. Curator: Exactly. And how the setting, with all its meticulously rendered textures, emphasizes the layers of interpretation we bring to this very old tale. Who benefits from our continuous engagement with this piece? Editor: That's fascinating! I hadn't considered the implications of the painting’s staging in this manner before. Thanks! Curator: The pleasure was all mine. It is interesting to consider the forces at work when dealing with such pervasive and continuously reshaped tales.