Christina Kenton, Crowded Dog, 2018-2019, canvas, acrylic, found object, cigarette lighter, 6 x 8 x 4 in

Christina Kenton first elected to make protectors for her lighters' because at night, left outside, they got chilly. And in the morning after a stay in the great outdoors they often would no longer work. So she built her lighters a casing to keep them warm.

But instead of a simple sleeve, she creates fanciful, hand-sewn worlds that swallow the lighters whole. For one cigarette lighter Kenton crafted a bed with pillows the pattern of a cloud-dappled sky. In it, a green fruit and a rogue flamingo watch idly by as an unexplained cavity tears through the bed "Nightmare on Elm Street" style, with a yellow hand reaching out from what's underneath. Magritte would surely appreciate the horror.

It's not too surprising that dreams are a main source of inspiration for this Vancouver-based artist.

Many also contain fantastical animals -- two-headed pigs, snakes emerging from cows and horses with necks that droop down to the floor. Kenton also cites her late grandfather, surrealist painter Ladislav Guderna as a major influence.

Kenton starts by sewing each case by hand, then applies a paper technique to bring her three-dimensional sculptures to life. She tops them off by hand-painting the exteriors and sometimes affixing a miniature or two to the hybrid dioramas.

Christina has been creating her lighter protectors for around a decade now. Along with the common therapeutic effects of art making, Kenton also noticed the repetitive, detailed work helped soothe her chronic vertigo.