phantasmagoria

Phantasmagoria draws from Lewis Carroll’s 1869 poem Phantasmagoria and the term’s historical association with shifting, dreamlike imagery produced by 18th-century magic-lantern shows. Initially intending to transform the book form into a literal lantern with embedded light and transparent projection pages, I instead developed a four-tier flip-book that invites the reader to “dress” a central girl figure, echoing childhood dress-up dolls and fashion books whose endlessly changing combinations mirror the concept of phantasmagoria.
As the pages progress, the girl’s form subtly distorts, suggesting a slow haunting. I extended this narrative into the accompanying doll, conceived as a sequel in which the girl has fully merged with the spirits and become ghostlike herself. I imagined each garment as a protective, summoned presence, and while plans for internal lighting and translucent materials proved too ambitious within the timeframe, I conveyed the ghostly aura through colour, surface treatment, and textile choices.
Together, the book and doll explore transformation, haunting, girlhood, and the interplay between material form and imagined apparition.