D.E.L.M. group – Marionettes in London for December ‘Connect’ – Ply Gallery, Hornsey Town Hall
Marionettes in London …
by Louise Wheeler
Dagmara, Ewa and Magda visited London to join me (Louise) and take part in the second instalment of the Connect Project at Hornsey Town Hall Workshops / Exhibition in early December 2016. Here all the groups of the Connect Project came together.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists. Photo credit Kelise Franclemont.
All the Connect artists groups visited Chelsea College of Arts where I held a tour of the studios and building. This was followed by a talk in the Lecture Hall where all of the individual Connect groups presented their projects, led by curator Oksana. This was an ideal opportunity for all the groups to engage and learn about each other’s projects and for all the artists to meet one another.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
Prior to the D.E.L.M visit, I had started making my marionette – as a mouse = my ultra-ego character.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
Dagmara, Magda and Ewa brought materials from Poland to create the other marionettes. Dagmara is a marionette maker in Poland. Under her guidance we made our group’s marionettes and decided their characters.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
We called this marionette Judy after the popular English seaside puppet show Punch and Judy. The play is actually about domestic violence. Currently the Polish government was attempting to pass new Polish laws to make abortion illegal. If a woman was raped she would be forced to keep the baby. There has been a huge outcry and protest by the Polish population that has led to the new law being squashed.
Trickster
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
The Joker.
The Jester.
They say something but really mean something else.
Cunning .
Prankster.
Good and bad.
Dictator
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
Fights to rule everyone.
Aggressive.
Possessive.
Ego.
The Controller.
The negative side of humans.
Pierrot
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
Unrequited love.
His love was not wanted.
Rejected in love.
Common worries of the human condition.
Ply Gallery at Hornsey Town Hall
(l-r) Ewa, Magda, and Dagmara of DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
Dagmara demonstrates how to string the puppets:
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
And the puppets become extensions of ourselves…
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
DELM, 2016, ‘Marionettes in London’ project, for Connect: London and Katowice. Image courtesy the artists.
