Away With the Fairies
Original short stories
Away With the Fairies is a contemporary collection of original fairy tales, written and illustrated by A.D. Black. Created as her first writing project, the stories explore modern themes like anxiety and depression through the lens of folklore. Influenced by traditional fairy tales and their reflection of cultural fears, these pieces replace classic archetypes with more abstract, internal challenges—loss, doubt, and the unknown.
Collaboration
Project
Artist Contributions to Away With the Fairies
Created as a senior thesis, the Away With the Fairies collaboration project connected artists worldwide through an exchange of art and storytelling. Volunteer artists received a mailed story prompt for a postcard-sized illustration, putting their own personal spin on A.D. Black’s short stories. Drawing on themes from classical fairy tales, these pieces were passed through the mail like modern heirlooms.
Exhibition
Away With the Fairies
Artist:
A.D. Black (now Alexa Felitz)
Location:
University of Idaho
College of Art and Architecture Gallery
Moscow, Idaho
Medium:
Mixed media installation: original short stories, postcard-sized ink illustrations, digital prints, mail ephemera
Description:
Away With the Fairies is a narrative art installation combining literature and visual art. Created as a senior thesis project by A.D. Black, the exhibition includes original fairy tale-inspired short stories and collaborative postcard illustrations mailed in from artists around the world. Drawing from folklore traditions and personal experience, the work explores modern emotional themes such as anxiety, loss, and disconnection—presented in a tactile format that mimics the personal, analog intimacy of mailed correspondence.
University of Idaho – College of Art and Architecture, 2021