Puppets Behaving Badly, Artist Workshop with Sylvia Ziemann
Shary Boyle, Judy, 2021. Steel, foam, wood, electronics, motor, textiles, wax head, oil paint, human, synthetic, llama and horse hair, silicone hand, stoneware and porcelain puppet heads. 183 x 96 x 66 cm. Animatronic sculpture rotates wrist when motion detector is activated, operating functional marionette. Courtesy the artist. Photo credit: Toni John Jones.
STUDIO ACTIVITY
Join Regina artist Sylvia Ziemann for an evening of puppet and character-making in celebration of the exhibition Shary Boyle: Outside the Palace of Me on view at the MacKenzie until 8 September 2024.
Ever since Punch and Judy duked it out in public performances, puppets have been used for political satire and to animate our aversions, fears, and anxieties. They do this in the spirit of fun. Puppets can do and say things we can’t or won’t do but secretly want to.
In this two-part workshop, you will design and make your own rebel puppet. Clay work, sewing, and painting are involved.
About the Facilitator
Sylvia Ziemann works in sculpture, painting, drawing, and puppetry. Her work explores our growing fear of the domestic other, our neighbours, and the creeping anxiety that our cocoons might be breached from without or within. Some work looks into the future of living spaces and how individuals might respond to environmental challenges caused by climate change, pandemics and extreme conditions. Born in Edmonton, she earned a diploma in painting from The Alberta College of Art and Design (1983), a BFA From the Nova Scotia College of Art and Design (1986) and an MFA from the University of Regina (2015). She teaches Art at the University of Regina.
