Underneath, we are all the same

Quite early on in my explorations of Under the Surface, I knew I wanted to make a social commentary using the idea of a puppet theatre. I played first with the kind of paper dolls that have pins to make the arms and legs move, but this seemed overly complicated and not adding much to the subject matter.

It was a toss up whether I went for class distinctions or racial discrimination, but with the Victorian puppet theatre as the set, it seemed best to go for class distinction. From then on, it was just a matter of playing with the separate skirt parts, and the strings, and constructing fusible applique clothes.

Although there is a serious point to this, it was mainly a fun piece to make. The colours in the photo above are accurate. The one below is suffering from my trying to lighten the shadows.