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Bryana Joy Studio
"The Wolf at the Door" (LIMITED EDITION 2D fine art print featuring scans of a 3D tunnel book)
"The Wolf at the Door" (LIMITED EDITION 2D fine art print featuring scans of a 3D tunnel book)
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ABOUT THIS LISTING
This is an unframed archival fine art print on Moab's Natural Rag paper. The print measures 6x5 inches and comes with a printed and signed certificate of authenticity. It is a 2D rendering of the second of two handmade paper theatres I created in 2026 thanks to funding from the Ordinary People project on Kickstarter. Kickstarter backers received these prints in the mail, and there are only four additional prints available for non-backers.
(Please note that only the first three listing photos show the print. The other photos show the handmade original 3D watercolor tunnel book/paper theatre that is the basis for this scanned 2D print.)
ABOUT THIS PIECE
I wanted Paper Theatre No. 2 to push back against the way our human fellow-feeling is so easily sublimated and suppressed by cynical rhetoric and calculated efforts to separate us from one another and from our own instincts for generous empathy. In "The Wolf at the Door," I've tried to take up one of the most pressing sources of global conflict (migration) and situate it within the ethical framework in which most of us were raised. For example: treat others the way you want them to treat you. For example, the notion that each human life is precious. For example, the premise that one life is not more precious than another. For example, the childlike dream of growing up to be a hero and saving someone's precious life.
Although I certainly believe the issue of immigration is a complex subject that demands a complex regulatory response, I'm deeply troubled to see so many folks losing sight of their foundational ethics when confronted with the international crisis of families fleeing war-ravaged and otherwise dangerous home countries in order to give their children a chance for a decent life. I'm deeply troubled by the increasingly widespread use of dehumanizing language to refer to migrants—a category that includes some of the most desperate and courageous trauma victims on the planet.
In this piece, I decided to start with an image that is for many people a highly-upsetting visual (an unauthorized border crossing), and then modify it to include (in the form of a snarling wolf) a tangible representation of the real and present danger faced by so many asylees and refugees. In a world where partisan politics has some folks feeling hostile towards those Ordinary People who make it their business to advocate for the human rights of migrants, I wanted this piece to be a kind of reminder that this is a work most of us would feel compelled to support if we were able to see migrants as humans with intrinsic worth equal to our own and that of our loved ones. Although this is a value many if not most of us have probably been taught from childhood, it can evaporate from our calculations with surprising speed in scenarios that present a real or imagined threat to our standard of living or way of life.
"The wolf at the door" is an old phrase used to refer to the threat of financial ruin and accompanying hunger. In this piece, I wanted to juxtapose a real flesh-and-blood "wolf at the door" with an image of the international migration crisis that is commonly presented as a harbinger of the metaphorical "wolf at the door"—an influx of hungry masses crowding in to wealthy nations to devour ever-scarcer resources. Although a lot of this fear is founded on inaccurate economic analysis, as someone who lives in a majority-migrant area of the United States, I really do understand and sympathize with the angst that large-scale immigration can create for the citizens of stable and relatively prosperous nations. However, I also feel the importance of perspective can hardly be overstated under the circumstances.
At the end of the day, the real wolf at the door is not the Ordinary People coming our way from the far corners of the globe, but the uncurious, ungenerous, and dehumanizing attitudes festering under the surface of the country we love. The real wolf at the door is the kind of fear that would cause us to turn away from our door the victims of famines and atrocities we can only dimly imagine. The real wolf at the door is the impulse to close our hearts against the suffering of our fellow humans.
I hope Ordinary People can come together to keep that wolf from the door.
SHIPPING INFORMATION
Shipping is free within the United States for orders of at least $50, and international shipping options are available at checkout.
© 2026 Bryana Joy
The artist retains all copyrights.
