The consummate storyteller, Sally French, has pulled into town again with her latest story. This time she's telling it with digital photographs. French, who lives and works in Kalaheo, Kaua'i, is known for her visceral and often-raunchy visual narratives that sometimes feature cartoon icons (such as Olive Oyl and Pokemon characters) in edgy prints and paintings to communicate her idiosyncratic observations of our troubled society.

Since 1974, French has exhibited her artworks from Honolulu to New York. She has been awarded grants and has been an invited visiting artist, lecturer and teacher. French is a strong supporter of the art scene on Kaua'i, often installing exhibits and encouraging emerging artists. She has been on the board of directors of the Kauai Society of Artists for over a decade. Her works are in many private and museum collections.

"Wunderlust: The Keepers' Tale" is an extension of the flawed heroic characters in her "Sugar Soup" series of alkyd paintings. This installation at Koa Gallery includes 15 large-format (3 feet by 4 feet) staged digital photographic works (taken with a Canon D-40 camera) and tells the story of the periled Blue Eggman of Yolk.

French took the art off the page and into the third dimension with theatrical sets and a cast of nine models for this riot-of-color series. The models often made their own costumes and the support staff included the egg sculptor and photographic assistants.

The exhibit includes a video of the PBS Hawaii "Artist" series by Stuart Yamane on French's process with this series.

The artist will be in town to offer closing comments at noon Saturday at the Koa Art Gallery, Kapi'olani Community College. It's free and open to the public.

I interviewed French by phone while she was working on a new project in her studio on Kaua'i.

Q. Can you give us a brief synopsis of the story line?

A. The Blue Eggman of Yolk lives in Wunderland and carries magical micro-yolks, the DNA to All Lessons Past, in his belly. Those who do not absorb the yolk's essence become consumed by greed and loathing. Most of the residents strive to be good Keepers of the Eggman, but the dangerous Whang Gang plots to kidnap the poor yolk. I won't give away the ending ... you have to see the show.

Q. Where did this story come from?

A. It evolved out of the previous series, that had flawed super heroes and an egg. It started out visually, tightened up and redefined itself as the photos were shot. It began with portraits of female superheroes — Fumiko, Keeper of the Meek, Lil Bunny, Keeper of Innocence, Charisma, Keeper of Self-Pleasuring, etc. The antagonists, Inky Whang and his brother Mack, are male. All the girls are parts of me.

The reason I actualized it in photography was because I wanted to get myself out of the way. I wanted viewers to directly relate to the characters. The models projected their own personalities into the characters. The spontaneity of shooting on site bumped my story up against a natural environment, giving it a sense of place and immediacy.

Q. Did you make the egg?

A. Fred Zollinger, who grew up on an egg farm, made the egg out of solid Styrofoam. I painted and repainted it to change the expressions. The Eggman is in the exhibit sitting in the Prebles' wheelbarrow.

Q. I suppose there is always a risk, with digital photography, that you could lean too heavily on Photoshop. Can you explain how you used the editing tools?

A. I was very conservative. I wanted the piece to have the flaws the natural environment would bring to the work, a truth. But Photoshop also enhanced my story. In the dump shot, I changed the coloration and made the sky orange. I'm new to Photoshop and conscious of not being too garish with it. I think sometimes photography is a more direct way of telling a story. I was trying to see if I could make the most of this medium and not fight my painting surface and techniques.

Q. It reads like a performance art piece, so different from your lone creative works. Was it fun to do?

A. It was so much fun ... everybody enjoyed doing it and contributed so much. The shooting took six to eight weeks. Prior to that, we met to discuss the sets and make costumes, etc. Overall, it took a year to finish. We actually did perform it on Kaua'i.

Q. Do you plan to continue using photography in your work?

A. Yes. There's a part of me that's a photographer now. I see things differently. It's a very dissimilar world from my studio — going from enactments to direct exchanges with the environment using natural light. It's exciting.