There’s a great quote by Bertolt Brecht that says that “Art is not a mirror held up to reality
but a hammer with which to shape it.” This idea has always really resonated with me in that what we create, no matter how small, is not only an expression of who we are, but also a vital part of making the world the way we want it to be. Whether painting or photography, or even a finger puppet!, the choices that an artist makes mean something because our work is inherently a message out to the rest of the world.
It’s always been important to me to create work that’s clever and fun, but given that art-making is also a opportunity to “shape the world,” I’ve also tried to feature puppet characters and people who were progressive or subversive in some way. Whether it’s a character we see take a journey no one would’ve expected at the start, one that breaks seemingly every stereotype, if I’m going to commemorate someone, it’s because I love it and I see real positive value in what that person represents.
In this spirit, I recently jumped at the chance to create a silent auction donation for Abortion Care Network‘s yearly meeting. ACN supports independent abortion providers around the country–a network that currently provides care for 2 out of 3 women in the U.S. who have abortions each year–and works to increase access and end stigma and harassment of abortion-seekers and caregivers.
My family happened to have donated to South Wind Women’s Center, part of ACN’s network, late last year, shortly before the opportunity to take part on the auction came about. Funny how things come together, huh?
Obviously this is an issue that’s been in the news in recent months, I was glad to have an opportunity to do something positive for this cause, and excited for the challenge of creating work that would appeal specifically to ACN’s members and donors. I decided that this event would be a great opportunity to celebrate some of my favorite feminist icons as puppets. It was no easy decision to narrow down the field, but I eventually chose four women: birth control pioneer Margaret Sanger (a no-brainer, given the cause), radical anti-racist and women’s right activist Angela Davis, scholar and writer bell hooks (watch this great recent clip of her and the divine Laverne Cox talking about feminism and reproductive rights), and Ruth Bader Ginsburg, my love for whom has been well-documented.
A pretty badass crew, don’t you think? Talk about #squadgoals!
Custom projects like this are always exciting, and even more so when I have an opportunity to indulge my activist side more than usual. Here’s hoping the crowd at the ACN event agrees and the set raises some money for such a great cause!
It was surprisingly difficult to find good detail photos of Elvis’ white suits (of which there were multiple, I discovered), but I did figure out that the red, gold and blue rhinestones in the “Aloha from Hawaii” suit were in the shape of an eagle. Who knew, right?
Once the parts are all cut to size, I’ll start piecing together the body and sewing in details. For Elvis, this meant that crazy suit. I wasn’t quite brave enough to try to do the eagle pattern with the rhinestones, but I think the dots keep the spirit of the bedazzling. And the red lei was a must, of course. When in Hawaii, right?
I’ve done a few puppets with microphones before. Because they’re so tiny and have to be free-standing, it’s tough to get much detail, but I decided that the finishing touch for Elvis would be to have a black cord coming from the bottom of the mic. I had to experiment a bit to figure out how to attach it at both ends, staying taught enough without pulling the arm in. With a little finessing, I’m thrilled with how much that small detail adds to the design.
I start any puppet by gathering images of the character for research and listing out the details to be included in the puppet. For custom orders, I ask the customer to list details that they’d definitely like to see, and note what jumps out to me as being really characteristic of that person. For this set, I found that the bottom of Waylon and Kris’ jawline/beard would be important in capturing them– Kris with a rounded beard and Waylon’s coming to more of a point. Though finger puppets don’t have chins, these sort of details hint at it and help distinguish the character.
After the sketch, I’ll begin to cut out felt shapes and piece them together until I have a set that seems to be capturing the subject pretty well. I generally cut all the felt elements at once, so as I lay them out I imagine how the embroidered details will fit into the overall look of the puppet. Above is Kris with that wispy, wing-y hairdo that just screams 70’s singer-songwriter right after I added the first stitches.
Most puppets tend to come together pretty quickly once everything is cut out, but Waylon’s cowboy hat took an usual bit of felt engineering to get just right. The hat sits on top of the puppet, and had to be stitched decoratively on top without revealing the stitches underneath holding it on, and the puppet itself together.
Here are the completed Kris and Waylon along with a Willie and Johnny for the completed”The Highwaymen.” Who knew felt could make for such perfect outlaws, right?
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