Dogtown, No Shelter (for Thomasine Younger 1753-1829), 2019

Natural dyes (cochineal, logwood, iron, osage orange, acacia extract) on silk gauze, rope, rocks, paper. ink

Dogtown is a ghost town of bramble and rock in Gloucester, MA. First settled in 1693, it gained notoriety when all the men of the town left after the Revolutionary War and War of 1812. The remaining residents were older women suspected of witchcraft and their feral dogs (hence the name.)

Thomasine Younger (1753-1829) was coined “Queen of the Witches”. She would torment passerby and threaten them with curses if they did not give her money or fish. She had two long teeth that interfered with her eating. Once she hired the town cobbler to remove them but he failed and only pulled them part way. Upon her death, the carpenter in charge of building her coffin was terrified that the coffin already contained her destructive spirit and refused to sleep with her coffin in the shop.