Motivation and Continuing Development

What draws you to work with children / young people?

I find the space that is created between artist and child/children very creative, spontaneous, immediate, true, and innovative.  The inventiveness and problem solving that occurs in this space cannot be replicated in an artist’s studio or between artists.

Can you describe your process in studio from initiation to completion? Can you describe your process on a project from initiation to completion?

I’m afraid I can’t comment on these two questions separately. These processes always converge.  I never create a performance piece without researching and developing the work with my audience, children, and more so now, children and parents.  I usually first spend some time researching, and preparing props and or puppets in the studio.  I then have an engagement/play phase with the audience to explore themes, ways of working, etc.  Then, I return to the studio to develop a work-in-progress, which involves puppet and prop making.  The work-in-progress is then tested on the audience and feedback recorded.

Has your process changed / developed over time? Can you describe how? 

Very much so: my audience has now become central to my performance work.  I now perform for very small audiences in intimate and interactive, engaging environments (like the bed the children sit in for The Bedmaker, or the parasol the parent and babies sit under in Infant Imaginings).  I would always consult and engage with my audience in the development of the piece.  Whereas before entering the field of art and health, and working as a puppeteer, I would perform in more traditional ways, where the audience is not central, or as involved.

Do you have opportunities to share your experiences? 

Yes, I try to go to as many networking events as possible. I try to attend and speak at conferences.  I have written about my work in published articles and online.  I have had volunteers working with me alongside projects.

In what capacity, if any, is technology used?

Technology is used as a means of documentation/reporting and dissemination i.e. Practice.ie project profile and blog, and also podcasts of the Infant Imaginings Forum and Discussion. For this project, it has assisted in dissemination and sharing of practice and will hopefully encourage others in geographical areas to comment and feed-into the work.