Tom Thumb is a cutout animation film loosely based on Charles Perrault’s fairy tale, reimagined in a setting inspired by early-to-mid-20th-century America. The film blends influences from American Southern Gothic literature, silent cinema, and classic painting, with visual nods to artists like John Bauer, Grant Wood, and Max Ernst.

The story begins as a road-movie-style journey into the forest, echoing themes of abandonment and survival. As the narrative progresses, it shifts into a nightmarish, gothic world where reality collapses and fear takes over, culminating in a symbolic rebirth with the arrival of spring.

The film was created using a traditional cutout animation technique, with custom-built rigs and hand-crafted puppets—some of which are featured in this exhibition.

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Ivan Kostiurin is an artist and director living and working in Finland. His interests include video art, traditional animation techniques, creative collaboration with artificial intelligence, painting, and drawing. His work combines the aesthetics of 1920s Soviet animation with the visual traditions of German Expressionism. The universe of Ivan Kostiurin is built on archaic myths, the fusion of theater and painting, and references to early 20th-century art. Ivan is the co-author (together with Nikolai Lichtenfeld) of the animated film Tom Thumb. He also contributed animation to Roma Liberov’s film The Secret Man, and creates music videos and commercials. He has participated in exhibitions in Russia and Finland and is one of the founders of the art collective "Artists 24."

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Nikolai Lichtenfeld is an artist and animator based in Saint Petersburg, Russia. Together with artist Ivan Kostiurin, Nikolai began experimenting with various techniques and styles, which eventually led to the creation of the film Tom Thumb, based on the fairy tale by Charles Perrault. Ivan and Nikolai also created animated sequences for Roma Liberov’s film The Secret Man, a documentary about the Soviet writer Andrei Platonov. In March 2022, Nikolai made a short film titled The End in response to the war in Ukraine.