We recently connected with Marie Claire Macadar and are sharing our conversation below.
Marie Claire, thank you so much for joining us today. Can you tell us about a time when your work was misinterpreted? Why do you think it happened? Have any interesting ideas emerged from this experience?
When I tell people I'm a puppeteer, the common response is, “Oh, for kids, right?” in a slightly demeaning voice.
First of all, creating art with children is one of the most important things in the world! And dolls actually have immense power to connect people with each other and with themselves.
I make puppet shows for adults to help them access their inner child. By telling stories in musical format from the perspective of a plastic hanger, a lost earring, or even myself, I create stories that remind audiences of the importance of joy and laughter.
My recent shows are all musical. While an original song plays in the background, I move illustrations across the surface of an old-fashioned overhead projector. The story is about a specific time in my life, like when I was on a game show and it ended with a famous host being very disappointed in me, or when I met a friend who ended up changing my life.
It's always nice to hear the audience laugh and cry and remember the moments I share. I love bringing out the inner, expressive child of everyone in the room and reminding people how important it is to experience moments like these.
Marie Claire, before we move on to more of these questions, could you take some time to tell our readers a little about you and your work?
Sure thing. As a child I began studying fine art and music, and now I create works in both media and puppetry, combining the two.
All of my work takes the wonders of childhood and blends them with the lessons and complications of adulthood to create a wonderland of color and excitement.
My pictures are colorful worlds filled with patterns, my music tells stories from all stages of life and my puppet shows are both moving works of art.
I'm proud to say that I'm one of the few puppeteers who works with the overhead projector (I'm thinking of math class in 1995). I use this tool to create moving illustrations, like a lyric video, for a story about lessons learned and important moments.
My mission is always to create work that conveys depth, connection and joy to myself and the audience.
Learning and unlearning are crucial parts of growth. Can you share a story about a time you had to unlearn a lesson?
I studied art for a total of eleven years in middle school, high school, and college. The focus of my middle and high school classes was on developing the greatest possible technical skills in art, and from this foundation we were expected to develop a stronger sense of ideas and concepts. I also took piano lessons for ten years and spent hundreds of hours practicing scales and technical pieces. Combine all of that with the fact that I'm a very anxious child, and I spent years trying to do everything absolutely perfectly.
Well, it turns out that was impossible (big surprise). After years of stress, one moment changed this. I experienced my first criticism of my college career. I spent countless hours creating three drawings to present to my teacher. I hated the process of making these drawings, but I worked the way I knew how: to make the piece look as real as possible and work with as few “mistakes” as possible.
The criticism began and my drawing teacher Paul Jeanes said: “These drawings are wonderful. I can see that you are very competent. But they would still be wonderful if you didn't try to be perfect.” That one statement changed something in me and gave me the freedom to do exploratory, strange and sometimes bad work! This made my work infinitely better because I enjoyed it and my personality came through in my pieces. This moment probably made me want to become a puppeteer!
Is there a mission that drives your creative journey?
My mission is to show people that silliness and joy are just as important as seriousness. Society likes to tell us otherwise, but every experience I've had as a creative has taught me that finding and sharing joy is helpful in every way:
-Establish connection
-Helps build community
– Reduce the stress
-helps one feel “distanced.”
-and much more.
Joy is like medicine with no side effects!
I also have a long-term goal of creating a “puppet bus” that I can use to travel to schools, museums, and theaters throughout the United States and perform my puppet shows and teach classes in them (like a food truck). . , but for dolls).
It would help me spread the joy even further than I can now. If anyone out there has a van, please let me know!
Contact information:
Photo credits
Profile picture: Hilary Ament
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