The idea for this woodcut came to me after reading a brief account of a medieval legend about a small town (French, perhaps?) that was terrorized by a larger than usual rabbit. As one might imagine, I found this interesting for a number of reasons. I couldn't help but reflect that — prodigiously large or not — a big rabbit is still just a rabbit, after all. Perhaps lettuces and turnips would have reason to panic, but anyone with a reasonably sharp stick should feel at ease. Really, if forced to choose a gigantic rodent, you could hardly select a more docile and retiring species (although I realize that all of Australia might think differently). It sounds like a terrible B-movie.

With this in mind, I began to sketch out "The Terrible Coney" in a manner reminiscent of the style of Albrecht Dürer, whose work has always served as an inspiration to me. The pose of the mighty beast was inspired by a drawing by Pisanello. This piece will likely become the first in a series of woodcuts devoted to the idea of monstrous animals.

"The Terrible Coney" was awarded a Juror's Commendation by Whitney Museum of Art curator David Kiehl at the Boston Printmakers' 2001 biennial exhibition.

[detail enlargement]