We recently connected with Marie Claire Macadar and have shared our conversation below.

Marie Claire , appreciate you joining us today. Can you tell us about a time that your work has been misunderstood? Why do you think it happened and did any interesting insights emerge from the experience?

When I tell people that I am a puppeteer, a common reply is “oh, for kids, right?” in a slightly demeaning voice.

First off, making art of kids is one of the most important things in the world! And puppetry actually holds immense power to connect people to each other and themselves.

I make puppet shows for adults to help them access their inner child. By telling stories in a musical format through the eyes of a plastic hanger, or lost earring, or even myself, I create stories that remind audiences of the importance of joy and laughter.

My newest shows are all musicals. While an original song plays in the background, I move illustrations across the surface of an old-school overhead projector. The story revolves around a certain time in my life, such as when I was on a game show that ended up with a celebrity host being very disappointed in me, or when I met a friend that ended up changing my life.

It is always beautiful to hear audiences laughing, crying and relating to the moments I’m sharing. I love bringing out the inner expressive child in each person in the room, and reminding folks how important it is to have moments like that.

Marie Claire , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?

Sure thing. I started out studying fine arts and music as a kid, and I now create works in both those mediums, and puppetry, which is how I combine the two.

All of my work takes the wonder of childhood and mixes in the lessons and complications of adulthood, to create a wonderland of color and emotion.

My paintings are colorful and pattern filled worlds, my music tells stories of all stages of life, and my puppet shows do both of these as a moving work of art.

I am proud to say that I am one of the few puppeteers that works with the overhead projector (think Math class 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 make work that brings depth of feeling, connection, and joy to myself and the audience.

Learning and unlearning are both critical parts of growth – can you share a story of a time when you had to unlearn a lesson?

I majored in art in middle school, high school, and college, for a total of eleven years. The focus of both my middle and high school classes was developing the strongest possible technical abilities in art, and with that foundation, we were supposed to then have a stronger sense of idea and concept. I also took piano classes for ten years, and spent hundreds of hours practicing scales and technical pieces. Mix all of this with being a very anxious kid, and I spent years trying to make everything absolutely perfect.

Well, turns out that was impossible (big surprise). After years of stress, one moment changed this. I was experiencing my first critique of my college career. I had spent countless hours creating three drawings to present to my professor. I hated the process of making these drawings, but I worked the way I knew- make the piece look as real to work as possible with the least amount of “mistakes” possible.

The critique started, and my drawing professor Paul Jeanes said “these drawings are wonderful. I can see you’re very skilled. But they would still be wonderful if you were not trying to be perfect.” This one statement changed something in me and gave me the freedom to make work that was explorative, weird, and sometimes bad! Doing so made my work infinitely better, because I was enjoying making it, and my personality started to shine through my pieces. That moment probably led to me becoming a puppeteer!

Is there mission driving your creative journey?

My mission is to show folks that silliness and joy are just as important as seriousness. Society loves to tell us the opposite, but every experience I’ve has as a creative has taught me that finding and sharing joy helps in every way:

-creates connection
-helps form community
-relieves stress
-helps one feel “unstuck”
-and so much more.

Joy is like a medication with no side effects!

I also have a long-term goal of creating a “Puppet Bus” where I can drive to schools, museums, and theaters around the United States and perform my puppet shows out of the bus and hold classes out of it (like a food truck, but for puppets).
It would help me spread the joy even farther than I can now. If anyone has a small bus laying around, contact me!

Contact Info:

• Website: http://mariclersworld.com/
• Instagram: @mariclers.world t
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTdFZXp0yAVGd26R2vQbthA/videos
• Other: https://bmoreart.com/2022/10/playful-action-black-cherry-puppet-theaters-fall-2022-puppet-slamwich.html

Image Credits
profile image: Hilary Ament