"GIULIA" MIXED MEDIA SCULPTURE 19.5" x 6" x 7"

• Puppet is hand sculptured with paper clay and wood sticks which make the puppet moveable
  
• This puppet is an early study of puppet mobility, texture and measures approx. 10" x 12"
• This piece was created almost 20 years ago and laid the groundwork for the "Witnesses Series"
  
• The custom wooden and glass case with hook and eye closure measures 19.5" x 6" x 7"

The puppet is a universal figure. It holds a magic potential for distilling the very essence of life, acting as a conduit for energies that transcend the material world. I am interested in the puppet figure as a node of contemplation and reflection about the nature of being.

As the ever-increasing sophistication of technology usurps many human functions, especially in regard to memory, the question of what remains unalterably human becomes a compelling inquiry. The speed of technology compresses past/present/future into a simultaneity that challenges us to locate our position within a new paradigm that seems to foster the disappearance of the qualities that make us human. As our ability to understand ourselves distinct from technology becomes more complicated, the need to interrogate the presumed synergy between humans and technology becomes paramount.

The puppet body is a potent symbol of the figurative disembodiment of human beings – a kind of anti-cyborg – a figure that reveals the unmasking of prosthetic intelligence from the sentient body. The Witnesses project strives to give form to the internal narrative of the human race as it evolves in tandem with the technological world - an attempt at reconciliation between the outer and the inner realms as we become a more impacted by technology.

I am drawn to the idea of a universal figure that represents the human essence - a witness to our evolution and a symbol of what remains unalterably human within us.

~Genevieve

Artist Bio