Dev Makker
The Caribou
Inspired by Chessy Normile’s ”The Caribou,” an interpretation that and explores the delicate tension between escapism and rootedness, the yearning for the wildness of nature against the constraints of a settled life.
The central focus evokes the narrator’s bound foot, subtly confined by a leash. This restraint visually clashes with the sprawling natural landscape suggested in the background, a boundless lawn brimming with tall prairie grass.
The juxtaposition speaks to the narrator’s state of being. Bound to her marriage, not confined, anchored by herself, she finds imaginative escape alongside her astronomer partner, their minds reaching towards the cosmos. There’s a bittersweet quality here—the potential for boundless exploration, yet ultimately grounded by reality.
Her dress suggests this internal struggle; the leash concealed, perhaps even willfully ignored. The blurry backdrop through the night-vision lens reinforces this – it’s a glimpse into her boundless dreamscape, yet claustrophobic and limited. She’s physically rooted in the ordinary, while her spirit soars like the caribou across the untamed earth.
Parsons School of Design