“In a Land Far, Far Away …” With this magic carpet of an opening line, the master storyteller promises an escape to a land where anything is possible, where euphoria and terror play tug-of-war. It’s an apt title for the new exhibition at District of Columbia Arts Center.

In 40 spellbinding works, four storytellers use image in place of words; the viewer fills in the plot. There lies the downside: We yearn for the artists to spin their yarns, from backstory to climax. We want to know, literally, “What were they thinking?”