TOY STORIES: The Arts Council of Princeton will host Dot Paolo in a solo photography exhibition, “Narratives from My Toy Box,” June 1 through June 29 in the Taplin Gallery. A gallery opening is on Saturday, June 1 from 3 to 5 p.m.

The Arts Council of Princeton (ACP) will show “Narratives from My Toy Box,” a solo exhibition of photography by artist Dot Paolo, from June 1-29 in the Taplin Gallery. A gallery opening will be held on Saturday, June 1 from 3-5 p.m. An artist talk will take place on Saturday, June 22 at 2 p.m.

Paolo’s practice involves collecting vintage toys and objects and employing them in her diorama photographs. “This exhibition combines artworks from a few different series,” she said. “Some of the photographs are narratives about the mishaps that cause the demise of these toys and vintage objects.”

Paolo illustrates the plight of the toys; how they have been stepped on, vacuumed, burned, flooded, swallowed, lost, chewed up by the dog, run over by the lawn mower, or buried after being left in the yard; only to find their end. “Initially, I used legs and feet as my weapon of choice, like Monty Python’s trademark foot which he adapted from Cupid’s foot by Agnolo Bronzino,” she said.

Paolo also creates portraits of these toys. These photos include dolls, puppets, dogs, animals, and other assorted objects. “When I get a new toy, I often photograph it in front of a curtain or on my desktop with a piece of patterned paper as a background,” she said. “The images are printed in a vintage photobooth style. I use a Nikon D750 digital camera, and I print all my own digital images using an Epson P6000. I am also exhibiting black and white silverprints, created in a dark room that are hand painted. I make a digital negative with Pictorico film and contact print them on a special paper. The photographs are painted with Marshall’s Photo Oils and pencils, a semi-transparent medium, made especially for photography in 1919 by John G. Marshall.”

Also on view in the ACP’s Paul Robeson Center for the Arts are “The Way of Watercolor,” artwork by the adult students of artist-instructor Hema Bharadwaj, and “Phases of the Heart,” a solo show by local painter Marlon “7oveChild” Davila.

The Arts Council of Princeton is at 102 Witherspoon Street. Gallery hours are Monday through Thursday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Friday and Saturday, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m.; and Sunday 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. For more information, visit artscouncilofprinceton.org.