Shanell Papp crocheted a 28-foot skeleton for a gallery — but first it took over her home

In Opening Up, the sequel to our self-shot video series COVID Residencies, we're asking artists how the upheavals and uprisings of 2020 are affecting their process and work.

Lethbridge, Alberta artist Shanell Papp's body of work usually explores the macabre. Whether it's her terrifying knitted monsters or her stitched blood pools, her work will certainly make you feel something. 

Her latest piece, "Fall or Fell", is a 28-foot crocheted human skeleton that she began creating all the way back in 2019. "I wanted to work with something so delicate in a monumental way," she explains. And once COVID-19 hit, her project took on a new meaning.

"I was doing it mainly to just work at a larger scale ... but this time with its sheer size and how it's going to be displayed, I can't help but think that people will bring the time period to it. Like, it will be understood as a COVID work. It's made out of domestic materials and we've all spend a great deal more time at home than we ever really have in the past, and also it's a scary time."

In this video, watch Papp's process — and see what it's like living with a 28-foot skeleton in your home.

Death is usually a touchy subject matter for people to talk about and during this pandemic the idea of catching the virus and ... dying ... is certainly a thought that has swam across everyone's mind. That's why the soft and inviting texture of this massive skeleton contrasts so well to its actual representation of death. With this work, the concept of death is presented in an inviting way.  "I've felt that the work can provide a direct entry point to talk about difficult subject matter," says Papp.

Shanell Papp's new work is on display at The Gallery at Casa in Lethbridge, Alberta to Oct. 24. Follow her work here.