Overall, Puppeteer suggests a puppeteer, a person who manipulates an inanimate object called a puppet to create the illusion that the puppet is alive. It presents this puppeteer as a solitary, invisible figure orchestrating within a pictorial space that suggests some kind of stage.
The theme and style drew on my early 1970s engagement with Aubrey Beardsley’s graphic work, particularly the drawings he did for Salomé. Apparent similarities include the Puppeteer’s flatness; the use of line, pattern and ornament to delineate a narrative that evokes design more than it does realism; and the use of costume and texture to illicit different emotional registers. There are also echoes of Art Nouveau in this early work, a style Beardsley adapted into his high-contrast black-and-white style.
Now lost, this ink drawing/painting was created in State College, Pennsylvania, in the summer of 1973.
• • • • • •
Amy Ione
Title: Puppeteer
Date: 1973
Medium: Ink
Dimensions: Estimated at 24×18 inches.
Unsigned:
Catalog Number: Puppeteer 1972