The Night Of The Hunter

An exhibition proposed based around a very short scene from ?The Night Of The Hunter?, the seminal black & white 1955 film directed by Charles Laughton. ?It?s a hard world for little things?, is a line in the film spoken by the embodiment of hope Rachel Cooper, in this story of good and evil. This is a story of betrayal by the adult world of two helpless children, who are forced to wander the land begging for food and shelter whilst fleeing from their evil stepfather.

It is a fairy tale that encompasses the beauty of their journey on the river as the flee from harm, with the fear that lurks within as the world of the night creatures watches them sail by. This is illustrated in a sequence where an owl stalks its prey, a young bunny rabbit. We never see the moment of capture but are left with the screech of a captured beast.

To expand on the theme It?s A Hard World For Little Things I have chosen to illustrate the plight children throughout the world who are displaced or who are working under adverse conditions or indeed who are victims of homelessness, trafficking, war, natural disaster and poverty.

The exhibition will feature eight large scale drawings of children carrying heavy objects such water, bricks and each other. The drawings are 40 x 54 inches and are graphite on paper. The stark black & white echoes the miss en scene of the film itself.

The exhibition will be held at the V&A Museum of Childhood 2016