HYLAND
which he had dyed yellow, then blue, then pink and finally
green—a nascent artist's aesthetic necessity the mother of his
invention. Pihlstrom, a graduate of the Yale School of Drama,
creates wild, neo-baroque scenery for operas, theatre and
music pieces around the globe, and has, since 2008, been
ensconced as resident designer for Company XIV, a Brooklyn
dance company. From this inspired base, Pihlstrom collaborates
with visual director and choreographer Austin McCormick on
productions that "fuse opera dance, burlesque, circus and
fashion…inherently dark, sensual re-imagined versions of
classic operas and fairy tales." (I am reminded of two fantastic,
subversive classics by another great movie director—Michael
Powell—The Red Shoes and Tales of Hoffmann.)
