Harpist Print

Portrait - marionette The Harpist is the main character in my collection of marionettes based on Hector Malot's classical book « Sans Famille » . It is one of my favorites since childhood. Recently my volunteering in Children's Hospital in Riga led me to think that dis-functional families hadn't changed so much since 19th century's France. My heart hurt, images of unhappy children hunted me till I made Rémi The Harpist – an orphan from aristocratic family who has been kidnapped as a baby. I depicted him as a dreamy teenager, handsome, but incredibly sad. His stepfather sold him to a traveling musician, he was forced to leave his poor but happy home and loving stepmother. The Harpist is a portrait-marionette, a moving sculpture which brings out traits of character that are hard to notice in a real life. My marionettes are always about soul-capturing, I search some human qualities I can't represent in a painting, a drawing or in a stand-still sculpture. Marionettes are in-between an object of art and a magical rite. I use abstract face and hair colors to get closer to my characters soul and to create a realistic personage by detaching it from self-evident reality. The Harpist measures 107x29x19 cm without strings and control. He is entirely designed and hand-made by me. His body, arms and legs are soft, made from a collection of vintage fabric and stuffed with different weight materials (sintepon, scraps of fabric, stones) to maintain a natural balance of movements. His body is jointed in head, shoulders, elbows,wrists, upper torso, hips and ankles. Each joint is hand-sewn together and carefully fixed with buttons. His face, hands and bare feet are made from papier-maché. At first they are sculpted as a clay model, then multiple layers of papier-maché are applied to create a harmonious mixture of form and color. For me, hands and feet are as characteristic as the face to reveal puppet's personality. His eyes are hand-embroidered with beads in different shades of violet and grey to create vividness and shine. I choose the golden-beige for his body and outfit, violets and pinks for his flesh and hairstyle to underline his melancholic nature. I use a varied collection of fabrics for my marionettes – vintage, designers' collections, flea-market founds, etc., to create a truly unique story and feeling for each puppet. I pursue a painting-like texture and surface, my goal is to create a painting which becomes alive. Every scrap of lace or a glass bead in a marionette has a special story or a good reason to be here. His hands are sculpted in a harpist's gesture so it is easy for him to hold and play his instrument. As he is very poor he walks bare feet and has even sold his shirt. He has trousers from brownish striped organdie, fine silk leggings and a fur collar. He wears lace cuffs to remind of his aristocratic background. His pale lilac hairstyle is made from crocheted handmade yarn and he wears a pair of Swarovski crystals in his dread locks.

Print:Giclee on Photo Paper

Size:8 W x 12 H x 0.1 D in

Size with Frame:13.25 W x 17.25 H x 1.2 D in

Delivery Time:Typically 5-7 business days for domestic shipments, 10-14 business days for international shipments.