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Articulated sparrow
lthough the sparrow is the only one I’ve made,
I still love my childhood collection of animal
marionettes, which I played with endlessly. I
was always intrigued by biological mechanics – I
remember my mum having to repeatedly hide the
dead blackbird I’d found in the garden because I
kept finding and examining it, opening and closing the wings, and
marvelling at their beauty and precision. We also raised a tiny pink
baby sparrow, which had fallen from its nest, into a fully fledged
adult. Watching the pin feathers slowly unpeel into a perfect flying
machine was incredible, and hugely influential on my work.
For my previous articulated animal static sculptures, I’ve
studied skeletons and musculature in depth. I aim to create a
truly convincing impression of each creature, and that requires
understanding the way they work.
Laser cutting is a perfect method for me: the speed and precision
mean I can duplicate complex shapes easily, without having to
be too precious about testing and destroying prototypes in the
development process.
In October 2017 the Dinosaurs of China exhibition came to
Nottingham, which closely examined their development into birds. I
spent hours with the skeletons, attended many lectures and films,
and was inspired to create a truly realistic bird marionette. I made a
lot of mistakes but I was obsessed, perpetually daydreaming about
pivots and strings. You can watch the development, from wobbly
‘bones’ into the flying sparrow, on Instagram @lauramathewsart.
I’m currently working on a puppet horse, with individually
controlled legs for creating the full range of gaits, which will
hopefully evolve into a Pegasus!A
By Laura Mathews @lauramathewsartRight
Laura makes other
mythical beasts,
including dragons
and unicorns