Work samples

  • Unicorn Constellation
    Unicorn Constellation

    This piece (The Star) ends with shadow puppets of various animals of the zodiac jumping through a ring of lunar phases.

  • Hazel Dickens crankie. This scene is about black lung and the struggle of coal miners in West Virginia.
    Hazel Dickens crankie. This scene is about black lung and the struggle of coal miners in West Virginia.

    This crankie is is about the life of Hazel Dickens. This scene speaks about her powerful song Black Lung which spoke out against the mistreatment of coal miners, like her brother, who never left West Virginia. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.

  • Between Monument and Montford crankie about the arabbers of Baltimore
    Between Monument and Montford crankie about the arabbers of Baltimore

    Robin, Felix, Dennis, and I after sharing the arabber crankie at the Creative Alliance's crankie festival.

  • A shadow puppet crankie based on a song about one colonial woman's survival in the 18th century Vermont.
    A shadow puppet crankie based on a song about one colonial woman's survival in the 18th century Vermont.

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About Katherine

Baltimore City  
I am a storyteller, papercut artist, and puppeteer. I mainly make crankies, a form of visual art performance that involves a box containing a scroll of artwork. The scroll is attached to rods with cranks at the top. As the cranks are turned the scroll moves across the front of the box, where the viewer can see the artwork. 

I'm a formally trained artist with a degree in sculpture from MICA, however over ten years ago I started my foray into puppetry after seeing some shadow puppet… more
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Hazel Dickens crankies

In 2020 I was commissioned by Willow Garden Films to make two crankies for a documantary about Baltimore musician, folk legend, and activist Hazel Dickens. Many citizens moved to Baltimore to work in factories, to escape the poverty and coal mines of West Virgina. Hazel and her siblings were some of these hard working poor. Hazel went on to become a bastion of the folk music community in Baltimore and then in DC. She also wrote songs of protest bringing awareness to the dangers of the coal mining industry and sexism. I can't share video yet, since the film has not yet been released. 
  • Lost Patterns crankie
    Lost Patterns crankie
    This crankie is based on Hazel Dicken's song Lost patterns. The song speaks of the struggles of working class life, through descriptions of the house where an unhappy person lives alone. The fading of the patterned linoleum floor seems to be a metaphor particularly inspired by mid-century Baltimore. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
  • Lost patterns crankie
    Lost patterns crankie
    This crankie is based on Hazel Dicken's song Lost patterns. The song speaks of the struggles of working class life, through descriptions of the house where an unhappy person lives alone. In this scene mice run rampant, showing the neglect of this mid-century household. I used handmade papers for this scene to achieve grittier textures. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
  • Hazel crankie 2
    Hazel crankie 2
    This crankie is is about the life of Hazel Dickens. This scene speaks about her long time musical partnership with Alice Gerard. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
  • Hazel Crankie 2
    Hazel Crankie 2
    This crankie is is about the life of Hazel Dickens. This scene speaks about her powerful song Black Lung which spoke out against the mistreatment of coal miners, like her brother, who never left West Virginia. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
  • Hazel crankie 2
    Hazel crankie 2
    This crankie is is about the life of Hazel Dickens. This scene speaks about a song she wrote about the mistreatment of women. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
  • Hazel crankie 2
    Hazel crankie 2
    This crankie is is about the life of Hazel Dickens. This scene speaks about her aspirations and her heroes, like George Jones. * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
    •

    • Between Monument and Montford

    This shadow puppet crankie piece is based on interviews with Robin Reid, Dan Van Allen,  and the Arabbers* of Baltimore City. It is the story of a young african amercan girl and the magic that the Baltimore Arabbers brought to her neighborhood and her life. Thanks to arabbers who run a stable behing my house and Dan Van Allan, former president of the Arabber Preservation Society I have gotten to know and admire this community as neighbors, collaborators, and as a Baltimore heritage. 

    *Arabbers are horse cart vendors. Baltimore is the last city in the US to have Arabbers. The word Arabber comes from the Turkish word for horseman. 
    • Between Monument and Montford
      Between Monument and Montford
      This is the scene when Robin speaks of her wonder excitement when the Arabbers would arrive in her neighborhood with their beautiful horse drawn carts; the colors, sounds, and the fruit.
    • Between Monument and Montford
      Between Monument and Montford
      Robin reminisces here how each door on her Baltimore street was a different color.
    • Between Monument and Montford
      Between Monument and Montford
      In this part of the story, Robin talks about waking up to the sounds of an arabber coming down the street.
    • Between Monument and Montford
      Between Monument and Montford
      In this part of the story Robin describes how magical the arabbers were and how kids associated them with Santa Claus.
    • Between Monument and Montford
      Between Monument and Montford
      Robin, Felix, Dennis, and I after sharing the arabber crankie at the Creative Alliance's crankie festival.
    • Performing outside
      Performing outside
      We did a special sunset show for a visiting artist form Puerto Rico, using the light of the sun to backlight the crankie.
    •

    • The Raven

    Projected shadow puppet crankie based on Edgar Allan Poe's The Raven, commissioned by The Peabody School of Music.  Paper and Tyvek scroll. Poster board and foam core puppets and overhead projections.

    This shadow puppet show is a combination of various shadow puppetry techniques, incorporating a pop-up book, lazy susans, moving human figures, and overhead projectors. Everything was hand cut with a hobby knife.

    This piece was originally performed with Tim Kearly, Valeska Populoh, Eamon Epsey, Channing Showalter, Lisa Kraus, Nick Sjostrom,  and Burke Sampson at The Peabody School of Music on Halloween night of 2016, accompanied by an original musical score and sound effects by Nick Sjostrom and Burke Sampson.
    • Respite—respite and nepenthe
      Respite—respite and nepenthe
      Projected papercut
    • The Raven
      The Raven
      As the lightning flashes we see the skeleton of the raven. “Wretch,” I cried, “thy God hath lent thee—by these angels he hath sent thee."
    • Nameless here for evermore
      Nameless here for evermore
      Pop-up book
    • Valeska and Lisa working puppets on the projectors
      Valeska and Lisa working puppets on the projectors
      Overhead projectors, behind the screen
    • The Raven
      The Raven
      In this scene he sees and apparition of Lenore and her heads transforms into a ravens head, and her fan opens to reveal the words, nevermore.
    • The Raven
      The Raven
      Our hero sits dreaming of the lost Lenore.
    •

    • Yorktown Museum project

    In 2015 I collaborated with Cortina productions, a film company that makes historical films for museums, approached me about making a giant shadow puppet crankie* for a film, I was pretty excited.
    The film is about a traveling story teller, who uses a crankie to tell oral histories of the American revolution through 6 different people who lived through it. (among them, a housewife, a native american man, and an african american man). These are actual oral histories of people who lived at the time. It was an inspiring and educational experience working with producer, Brent Feito and a curator/historian, Katherine Gruber of the Jamestown-Yorktown Foundation.
    I got to spend months researching, story boarding, making sample scenes, and finally making the final piece. The images are based on artwork and aesthetics of the period. In order to make the deadline friend and colleague, Caleb Stine, worked full time hand cutting paper and glueing down scenes with me for over a month. Some other folks who lent a hand during construction were Annie Howe, Lisa Krause, Christine Sajecki, and Eamon Espey. We ended up with three scrolls, some of which are over eighty feet long. Everything was hand cut with a hobby knife.

    It was especially moving to be working on this piece about these questions of freedom and human rights as the riots broke out in Baltimore this year. It felt all the more meaningful and powerful to be revisiting these questions in my work.
    After the crankie was done, I finally arrived in Virginia, where they had been filming all the stories I had illustrated on the crankie in live action. Michael Lamason and Valeska Populoh of Baltimore's Black Cherry Puppet Theater came to Virginia where we performed the crankie in period dress for the film.
    This has been an exciting and challenging project. The rough cut looks great and I can't wait to see the the final edit of the film. In the meantime there is an exhibit of the making of the film on display at the American Revolution Museum at Yorktown.
    The film has been  available to the public since December 2016.

    *A crankie or moving panorama is a scroll of artwork in a box, often illustrating a story or song that it is presented with. The ream of paper or fabric rolled around 2 posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera.
    • Sea Battle
      Sea Battle
      This scene is a depiction of a famous sea battle at Yorktown. I used different colors of paper to make some ships appear further away.
    • Handmade papercut
      Handmade papercut
      Everything in this piece and all my work in hand-cut. This papercut was influenced by Pennsylvania Dutch papercut artists of the time period. I worked closely with historian Kate Gruber on this project. Since this was made for a history museum it was very important to them that everything was historically accurate.
    • Yorktown foundation commission
      Yorktown foundation commission
      Giant shadow puppet crankie for a film for the revolutionary war museum in Yorktown. 4 feet x 6 feet Tyvek, paper, poster board.
    • Yorktown crankie
      Yorktown crankie
    • Caleb and I working
      Caleb and I working
      Here Caleb Stine and I are gluing down a scene of the Boston harbor. Caleb was a huge help on this huge project with tight deadlines.
    • Cutting paper
      Cutting paper
    • Boston
      Boston
      This scene depicts and fight that broke out in Boston. The figures all appear to be the same. This style is an imitation of artists of that time, like Paul Revere.
    • Storyboards and samples
      Storyboards and samples
      I had to work closely with historians and museum staff on this project. They wanted to make sure the piece was historically accurate. I had to submit sample scenes before I could get the go ahead to begin creating full size ones.
    • The house scene
      The house scene
      This complex scene was inspired by Pennsylvania Dutch Papercuts. This is the home of a woman whose oral history was included in the film. Here, after much research, many drawings, prototypes, and cutting Caleb Stine and I are finally gluing it down.
    •

    • "Fish" A Music Video, Installation, and live performance

    I spent the first part of this year working on a shadow puppet show for a music video for Baltimore band, Wye Oak. I had a lot of fun creating the characters for this underwater world and the process of working with film was a new and exciting experience for me.

    Video Credits:
    Songwriters: Wye Oak (Jenn Wasner, Andy Stack)
    Producers: Anne and Stewart Stack
    Director of Photography: Michael Patrick O'Leary
    Art Director/Paper cutter/puppeteer: Katherine Fahey
    Editor: Owen Lang
    Puppeteer: Scott Dennison
    Puppeteer: Shari Edelson
    Paper Cutters: Katie Field, Scott Dennison, Robin Reid, Brook Kearley, Annabel Kearley, Shari Edelson, Elodie Rabilloud
    Gaffer: Matt Brennan
    B Camera Operator: Nick Midwig
    Camera Assistant: Neal Golden

    Photos by Neal J Golden
    • Wye Oak video - Fish
      Wye Oak video - Fish
      A large paper fish backed with film grade colored gels.
    • End of the live show
      End of the live show
      On stage, with most of the performance crew, in front of the large shadow puppet screen at the Metro Gallery. Thaks to Michael O'leary, Jenn Wasner, Ashlie Kaufman, Owen Lang, Matt Muirhead, the entire Stack Family, and Katie Kuafarri.
    • Live show at the Metro Gallery
      Live show at the Metro Gallery
      Andy Stack, keeping in time with the performance.
    • Paper Fish installation
      Paper Fish installation
      Metro Gallery Installation Lighting for show and performance by Michael Patrick O'Leary and Serious Grip. All these tiny silver and blue fish were installed by Kyle Reinheart and Lisa Dietrich.
    • Paper fish installation
      Paper fish installation
      After we finished the video, I spent a week hanging an installation at the Metro Gallery of the puppets. I made a 32 foot wave piece for the the exhibit and additional puppets in order to put on a live performance of the shadow puppets show from the video. Lighting for show and performance by Michael Patrick O'Leary and Serious Grip.
    • Filming puppets on the diffusion screen
      Filming puppets on the diffusion screen
      The filming process was a great adventure. I was lucky to be surrounded by a supportive and knowledgable crew.
    • Puppeteering
      Puppeteering
      Scott Dennison, Shari Edelson, and I working a 3 man puppet during the filming of the video.
    • Wye Oak Music Video - Fish
      Director: Fahey/O'Leary/Stack DP: Michael Patrick O'Leary Art Director: Katherine Fahey Editor: Owen Lang Song: Wye Oak
    • Filming
      Filming
      Filming the video at Serious Grip and Electric.
    • Paper Ocean
      Paper Ocean
      Papercut, tyvek, 6x4 feet, January 2011. Katie Field and Scott Dennison both helped me cut some of these waves. It was the most labor intensive part of the project.
    •

    • Shadow Puppet Crankie - Francis Whitmore's wife

    Shadow puppet crankie*, based on a song about one colonial woman's struggle to survive a Vermont winter on her own in the mid-18th century.

    This piece has been sung it a Capella mostly, but on occasion with a guitarist or fiddler.

    Song written by Carole Moody Crompton
    Video by Michael Patrick O'Leary
    Paper cutting assistance by MICA intern, Raj Bannag

    *A crankie or moving panorama is a scroll of artwork in a box, often illustrating a story or song that it is presented with. The ream of paper or fabric rolled around 2 posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera.

    • kathy-and-raj-snowflakes-whitmore-cranky.jpg
      kathy-and-raj-snowflakes-whitmore-cranky.jpg
      Gluing snowflakes with MICA intern, Raj Bunnag.
    • elizabeth-whitmore-crankie-linda-nelson-cd-release.jpg
      elizabeth-whitmore-crankie-linda-nelson-cd-release.jpg
    • elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-fears.jpg
      elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-fears.jpg
    • elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-the-emptiness-when-they-.jpg
      elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-the-emptiness-when-they-.jpg
    • elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-francis-will-come-home-t.jpg
      elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-francis-will-come-home-t.jpg
    • elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-bitter-winds-of-winter.jpg
      elizabeth-whitmore-cranky-bitter-winds-of-winter.jpg
    • Francis Whitmore's Wife
      This is a scrolling shadow puppet show or "crankie" based on a song by Carole Moody Crompton. The songwriter set the song to the tune of an old shape note song called Fiducia. It is the true story of one of the first families to settle in southern Vermont in the mid 17th century. Video Credits: Vocals: Katherine Fahey Songwriter: Carole Moody Crompton Director of Photography: Michael Patrick O'Leary Art Director/Paper cutter/puppeteer: Katherine Fahey Puppeteer: Cuffari Shinsato Puppeteer: Rebecca Siegmund Williams Paper Cutter: Raj Bunnag Sound: Nick Sjostrom Crank Box Construction: Neal Golden
    • dsc_3699.jpg
      dsc_3699.jpg
    • Elizabeth Whitmore crankie
      Elizabeth Whitmore crankie

      Scene for the lyrics, "When others come to settle here, their courage it might fail, but with god's strength I will help them to prevail."

    • dsc_7184-1.jpg
      dsc_7184-1.jpg
    •

    • Talk to your Bees

    Talk to your Bees is a shadow puppet crankie (see definition below). It's based on the Bee Boy Song by Peter Bellamy, about superstitions around bees and beekeeping.

    *A crankie or moving panorama is a scroll of artwork in a box, often illustrating a story or song that it is presented with. The ream of paper or fabric rolled around 2 posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera.
     

    • Talk to your Bees crankie- hive
      Talk to your Bees crankie- hive

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by British song writer, Peter Bellamy.

    • Talk to your Bees crankie- apple blossoms and borage
      Talk to your Bees crankie- apple blossoms and borage

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by British song writer, Peter Bellamy.

    • Talk to your Bees crankie
      Talk to your Bees crankie

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by british song writer, Peter Bellamy.

    • Talk to your Bees crankie- echinacea and monarchs
      Talk to your Bees crankie- echinacea and monarchs

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by British song writer, Peter Bellamy.

    • Talk to your bees
      Talk to your bees

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about fantastical bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by British song writer, Peter Bellamy. One would tell the bees anything important happening in your life; weddings, funerals, voyages, etc.

    • Talk to your Bees crankie- The End
      Talk to your Bees crankie- The End

      Talk to your Bees crankie, about bygone superstitions around bees and beekeeping, based on The Bee Boy Song, by British song writer, Peter Bellamy.

    •

    • I Don't Feel Dead Yet

    This Shadow Puppet Crankie* illustrates an old african american folk tale, ghost story adapted by Craig Dominey and Veronica Byrd. We follow a couple's humorous journey to letting go, Louisianna style. Jay Dilisio accompanies on fiddle. All papercuts and shadow puppets were hand cut with a hobby knife.

    *A crankie or moving panorama is a scroll of artwork in a box, often illustrating a story or song that it is presented with. The ream of paper or fabric rolled around 2 posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera.

    You can see a video here:
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gew0PM10mqE

    • Cephus
      Cephus
    • She had been warned by the dream
      She had been warned by the dream
      "Her husband, who had been suffering with the consumption slipped away into the spirit word. Now she was sad to see him go, but she should have seen it coming, for she had been warned by the dream."
    • The Widow Jones in her home
      The Widow Jones in her home
      "The next day she buried her husband." This offbeat comic New Orleans ghost story/folk tale is full of great details and wonderful superstitions.
    • He moved closer to the fire to warm his cold hands and feet
      He moved closer to the fire to warm his cold hands and feet
    • Talking to a corpse
      Talking to a corpse
      This is a pivotal scene in this unlikely ghost story/folk tale. "Getting used to the idea that he's talking to a corpse, the fiddle got out his fiddle and started to play. "
    • Spider web
      Spider web
    • He danced faster
      He danced faster
    • Covering the mirrors
      Covering the mirrors
      "The next day the widow Jones covered all the mirrors in the house because everyone in town knew that if you didn't the image of the dead would remain in those mirrors."
    • The End
      The End
    • I Don't Feel Dead Yet video
      In this video Jay Dilisio plays fiddle and the puppeteers are Amy Sampson and Shana Roth Gormley. This video was filmed Allen Moore at the Peabody School of Music Library in Baltimore, Maryland Halloween night of 2014.
    •

    • Where stars come from

    In 1806 two sisters in England published a book of thier peotry fro children. One of them is a song sung all over the world to this day. This Shadow Puppet Crankie was a commision for Kentucky Educational Television Foundation based on Twinkle Twinkle Little Star. Video available here. 
    https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5KZLDh4N9YY
    • Unicorn Constellation
      Unicorn Constellation
      This piece ends with shadow puppets of various animals of the zodiac jumping through a ring of lunar phases.
    • The Traveler
      The Traveler
      This little known verse of the song goes, the traveler in the dark thanks you for your tiny spark.
    • Diamonds
      Diamonds
      This well known verse goes, Up above the clouds so high, like a diamond in the sky. Even the smallest children know the words and often sing along. These diamonds are cut from origami paper.
    • "Where Stars Come from" Video
      Video Art and design: Katherine Fahey Puppeteers: Katherine Fahey and Paul RIchardson Director of photography: Michael Patrick O'Leary Editing: Digital Cave Media Music recorded by: Nick Sjostrom Music performed by: Katherine Fahey This film was made possible through a partnership with Kentucky Educational Television.
    •

    • Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie

    In 2021 I was commissioned by California's Ismay Music to make a crankie* for a short film based on the folk song, Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie. I reinterpreted the song to be about the death of a horse instead of a cowboy. I also included cowboys of diverse race, gender, and ethnicity  in the piece, which have been often underrepresented in Amercan films. This piece was an exciting exporation of new shadow puppetry techniques which I had time to focus on learning this year. The music you hear is Ismay and the video was filmed and edited by Baltimore's Julia Golonka. 

    * A crankie or moving panorama is an old fashioned form of visual performance, device. It is a hand cranked scroll in a box. The artwork is rolled around two posts, which is then pulled across the front, much like film in an old camera. This crankie combines papercuts and shadow puppetry.
    • Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie crankie-2021
      Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie crankie-2021
      Filming a desert scene of the Bury Me Not on the Lone Pairie crankie with Julia Golonka in my studio in Baltimore.
    • Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie | Ismay | Crankie by Katherine Fahey
      Video for Ismay based on the folk song Bury Me Not on the Lone Prairie. All artwork and puppeteering was done by myself. All video and editing was done by Julia Golonka. All music by Ismay.
    •