Fiddler Print

The Fiddler Marionette is a 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 started to make this collection. The Fiddler comes from a poor and loving Italian family, he has an incredible musical talent. His family sells him to a cruel « padrone » when he's just a little boy. He meets his best friend The Harpist while starving to death in streets of Paris. Since then, they are traveling and making music together. The 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 Fiddler measures 102x28x24 cm without strings and control. His body, arms and legs are soft, made from 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. To reveal his character, I used different shades of blue in allusion to the color of nostalgia and the blue-skinned Hindu deity Krishna who turned blue after drinking the venom of a monstrous snake to save the Universe. 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 perfect form and color. For me, hands and feet are as characteristic as the face to reveal puppet's personality. 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 fiddler's gesture so it is easy for him to hold and play the violin. (The instrument is not included). His eyes are hand-embroidered with beads in different shades of dark blue to create vividness and charisma. His impressive hairstyle is made from crocheted thread of handmade yarn from black velvet. He wears an organdie skirt in varied blue hues with a silk collar. His trousers are made from worn out black silk, because, as you remember, he is very poor. He wears stylish big boots from papier-maché, covered with aubergine lace and with golden soles.

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.