Justyna Tuchorska

Puppets

A performer in a large handmade seagull costume stands arms-wide in Venice's Piazza San Marco on a rain-slicked day, St. Mark's Basilica behind them, pigeons scattered across the stones. Costume as public spectacle.
Two performers on a dimly lit stage — one holds aloft a large ornate gold mask with bold eye markings, the other cradles cascading purple fringe. A framed image hangs in the background.
The large golden-masked puppet displayed on metal scaffolding in an exhibition or rehearsal space, with other costumes visible behind it. Scale and craftsmanship on full display.
Portrait of a puppet head with a terracotta-painted face, closed eyes, and rosy cheeks, wearing a white cloth headdress with dark blue trim and a crown of dried fabric roses. A folk character rendered with tenderness and craft.
The artist looks quietly at a puppet hanging from a wooden rack — the same terracotta folk figure in colourful patterned clothing. An intimate moment in the rehearsal space.
Diptych of two found-object puppets in performance — a silver spoon crowned with red fabric flowers and a badge held over a wooden stage strewn with dried roses; a crumpled metallic foil form with button eyes operated from a wooden box. Everyday objects granted strange life.
The large golden-masked puppet in black robes seen from a closer angle on the metal scaffolding. The mask's dramatic painted expression fills the frame.
Close-up of a large puppet body painted with swirling concentric circles, dots, and wave patterns in turquoise, blue, orange, and pink. Vivid folk-art patterning that fills the entire surface.
Profile view of the terracotta folk puppet head — the painted orange face in sharp side relief, white and dark blue headdress adorned with dried fabric roses. Handcraft foregrounded in detail.
Triptych documenting a puppet theater performance: wooden crate staging filled with organic fish and animal puppets; performers operating characters above the stage; a seated puppeteer in dialogue with a large headdress figure. Entirely handmade, earthy and ecological.
A delicate dome-shaped structure built from white wire hoops, adorned with pearl strands, pale ribbons, and small feathers. Craft materials transformed into something fragile and otherworldly.
A tall totemic staff held by a black-gloved hand — organic forms of shells, seeds, and bone-like shapes strung with amber beads, crowned with fish-like silhouettes and a violet accent. Ritualistic and strange.
A large papier-mâché puppet head in the form of a stylised fish — ridged orange-yellow surface, button eyes with hand-drawn smiley faces, a green leaf-like fin. Held on a stick against darkness. Playful and strange.
Design illustration of a gray humanoid figure draped with angular red fabric panels, small birds nestled at each shoulder. A concept drawing for a puppet or performance character, rendered in pencil and watercolor on a peach ground.
Watercolor illustration — a gray humanoid figure cradles a sleeping fox against its chest, the animal rendered in warm orange and white. A tender companion piece to the fox-carrier of puppets-13.
Watercolor illustration — a gray humanoid silhouette carries a large fox on its back, rendered in vivid orange and white against a salmon ground. Graphic and fable-like.
Watercolor illustration — bare arms emerge from a narrow vessel beneath a sweep of green cloth, the figure hidden by blue-gray geometric forms suggesting water. Only the hands and oar are visible.
Watercolor illustration — a small hooded figure stands among towering bamboo columns in warm ochre and rose tones, set against geometric fields of green and tan. Quiet and dreamlike.
Watercolor illustration — three tall bamboo-like poles rise from sandy ground flanked by angular geometric rock forms, a small red patterned element at the centre base. Minimal, architectural, quietly ceremonial.
The artist stands in a public square wearing a long black dress with a structured bodice of yellow, blue, and black panels with red lacing. Dark hair and lips. A costume brought out of the theatre and into the city.
On a dark stage, a white-faced puppet figure with heavy theatrical makeup, red hair, and a ruffled white collar stands before a looming hooded figure in black. Commedia dell'arte atmosphere, shadow and theatre intertwined.
Full-stage view of a white-faced puppet figure in a white blouse and amber bodice, accompanied by a hooded puppeteer in black. Red shoes catch the stage light. Theatrical and quietly uncanny.