The Handless Maiden used a folk tale collected by the Brothers Grimm to explore the journeys women make toward personal freedom, focusing on how they negotiate a pathway through the rules and restrictions created by society, family, and themselves.

The Handless Maiden tells the story of a girl whose father cuts off her hands to fulfill a contract with the devil. The story follows the girl as she travels through a world formed by the intersection of different sets of rules -- rules of family, of gender, and of magic. Finding her pathway through the danger these rules create for her, she eventually regains her hands and becomes whole, both physically and emotionally.

The installation recreated the spaces of the story through dramatically lit tableaux which sought to evoke the rich visual imagery of the story. The tableaux combined everyday furniture with outsized papier mache props. Each of the areas also had one or more interactive elements, allowing visitors to experience the story firsthand. Silent videos of hands engaged in various repetitive tasks alluded to the mute and restricted characterization of the maiden in the story.

Audio of women talking about how societal rules can be restricting or helpful represented the maiden's voice, which is largely absent from the tale. The audio was taken from interviews we had conducted with women of various ages and circumstances, asking them to reflect on the story and relate it to their own lives. In the different areas of the installation, gallery visitors could listen to women discussing issues such as family, beauty or motherhood.