The Coraline Connection

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The Coraline exhibit by Althea Crome currently on loan to the KSBMC.

Let me start by admitting that I have never seen the movie Coraline. I’m sure the 2009 award-winning animated movie is well worth watching, but I’m more Sense & Sensibility as opposed to PG-rated dark fantasy. Either way, I still appreciate what goes into an artistic venture whether I’m a fan or not, which leads me from Emma Thompson back to Coraline, or more specifically to a tiny sweater worn by the title character that was created by none other than Althea Crome. It is currently on display in the gallery and along with it comes some delightful anecdotes.

The affable IGMA Fellow has fascinating stories to tell about her association with the movie. As Althea describes it, it all started while she was at a restaurant with her mom. She was crying into her coffee during a not-so-good time in her life when she got a call from an unknown number. It was from a woman in the costume department at Laika, a Portland-based studio that was producing a stop-motion animated film called Coraline. They had found her by searching the Internet for someone who could knit in micro scale. Althea actually considered not taking the commission, but soon realized it was an opportunity of a lifetime and the rest is, well, history in all its animated glory.

The biggest challenge for the movie project, says Althea, was finding the correct thread. It was a month-long search that ended when her mother found holographic thread that would help to make the slate blue sweater sparkle as the director had requested. Althea, who is renowned for her 1:12-scale sweaters and gloves, actually had to scale up the sweater because the thread didn’t appear on screen as knitted. Additionally, the stars she had first knitted into the sweater looked too much like snowflakes, so the decision was made to add glow-in-the-dark stars to the finished turtleneck.

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It’s stories like these that document the trials, tribulations, and successes that make an artist’s journey on a project so interesting to me. I cannot help but imagine how thrilled Althea’s children must have been to see her creating for the film. At the time her son was a preteen and she had seven-year-old triplets (how she managed everything must be a story in itself). They had all watched the movie Corpse Bride together and now their mother was actually working with costumers who had been involved in that movie!

And the stories get even more exciting. There was the premiere, the after-parties, and the accidental meeting at the airport with Neil Gaiman, author of the book Coraline, who invited Althea and a friend to join him in the VIP expedited check-in. Hearing Althea tell the stories is so much fun and while the Coraline sweater is one that she will never part with—believe me, I’ve tried—I’m overjoyed to have it in the gallery along with the gloves and the studio mannequin she used for fittings. They will remain here through October while the collection’s permanent display of Althea’s textiles are on loan to the Grunwald Gallery in Bloomington, Indiana, for The Miniature.

I’m fortunate to have relationships with many artisans like Althea whose work is in the KSB Miniatures Collection. It makes the pieces so much more special knowing not only the person, but their processes, experiences, and personal feelings about each miniature. When I look at the Coraline display, I smile and think of everything Althea went through with the now-famous sweater. And while I know I cannot keep this exceptional piece in the collection, I plan to do the next best thing and share her stories while it is displayed in the gallery. In fact, our museum’s education curator, Tandy Nash, is teaming up with me to create school trips and activities relating to the exhibit. Maysville’s historic Russell Theatre will also be showing Coraline in association with our events and Althea has generously offered to share her experiences during a presentation October 17th. I’m sure she will receive applause as gregarious as that which occurred at the Portland International Film Festival where the movie premiered. Only this time it will surely be for Althea’s talents alone. I know I will be applauding exuberantly.

KayesignatureP.S. Here’s a short video of Althea knitting and talking about her extraordinary art. From Coraline Films. 

Posted on September 1, 2015 in Collecting Miniatures