An alligator with a tail sprouting ducks' heads? An owl sitting on a branch that appears to grow out of a covered metal tureen? A hybrid that appears to be part rodent, part snake and part bug? Strange creatures indeed, and the stuff of Sue Johnson's art.

In her continuing project "The Alternate Encyclopedia," Johnson creates such imaginative natural phenomena. They are funny but also reflect the weird animals people in former times thought existed in far-off parts of the world. And they're a comment on the kinds of mutations that might conceivably happen if we keep messing with the ecology.

A group of Johnson's images, doubled like old-fashioned stereoscope cards, are on view in a show called "New Images for the Stereoscope" at Maryland Art Place's installation space.

The show is at Maryland Art Place, 218 W. Saratoga St., througJan. 9, 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. Tuesdays through Saturdays. For information, call 410-962-8565.

Pub Date: 12/24/98