Docklands (Osaka Project)

Japanese Bunraku-inspired puppet heads
(created with Matt Jackson for Ulrike Quade Company)

Creating these Bunraku-inspired puppet heads was a fascinating challenge. We needed to make each head slightly smaller than the puppeteers’ heads, light enough for seamless manipulation, yet realistic enough to be instantly recognisable. The process began with sculpting all the heads in clay, followed by crafting silicone moulds. We then cast the heads in liquid plastic and filled them with expanding foam to ensure durability and lightness. To bring the characters to life, we painstakingly covered each head with a volumetric collage made from hundreds of picture pieces, giving every character a distinctive and believable presence.