The Journey of Memory, Play, and Storytelling continues in No Desserts Ever, a whimsical mixed media assemblage included in Art of the Story: Juried All-Media National Exhibition at the Northville Art House from May 29 through June 30, 2026. The exhibition explores the relationship between literature and visual art, inviting artists to respond to the imaginative power of storytelling through a wide range of creative approaches.
No Desserts Ever is a whimsical mixed media assemblage inspired by the magic of childhood storytelling and illustrated books. Combining miniature objects, toys, hand-built environments, playful signage, tiny desserts, and dollhouse-like scenes, the work creates a tiny narrative world filled with humor, nostalgia, and imagination. Miniature dogs wander through the assemblage while blocks spelling “POKY” reference the beloved world of childhood books and storytelling traditions that continue to shape memory long after childhood itself has passed.
The piece grew from my fascination with how stories become embedded within us. Childhood books are never only stories. They become emotional spaces we return to throughout our lives. Certain illustrations, phrases, characters, and visual rhythms remain stored in memory for decades, quietly shaping imagination, comfort, humor, and wonder. The Journey of Memory, Play, and Storytelling became an important part of the work as I created an environment that feels playful, theatrical, and filled with tiny discoveries waiting to unfold.
Assemblage allows me to build worlds intuitively. Small found objects begin forming unexpected relationships with one another, and narrative emerges through proximity, humor, and arrangement. In No Desserts Ever, miniature desserts, toys, signs, textures, and tiny constructed spaces interact almost theatrically, creating moments that feel both familiar and slightly surreal. I enjoy how assemblage can blur the boundary between sculpture, storytelling, memory, and play.
The title itself carries the playful logic of childhood rules and exaggerated declarations. “No Desserts Ever” feels like something spoken dramatically in the emotional universe of children’s stories, where simple events become enormous and tiny details feel magical. Humor plays an important role in the work, but beneath that humor is a genuine affection for the imaginative freedom childhood stories provide.
Much of my artwork explores liminal space — the threshold between memory and present experience, object and narrative, reality and imagination. The Journey of Memory, Play, and Storytelling exists within these tiny, assembled worlds, inviting viewers to slow down, look closely, and rediscover the sense of wonder that books and stories awaken within us long after childhood has ended.
I am grateful to the Northville Art House and the jurors of Art of the Story for including No Desserts Ever in this year’s exhibition celebrating the connection between visual art and literature.
For more information about the exhibition: Northville Art House – Art of the Story Exhibition
