Spotlight on Beth McGuinness
Artist and Puppet Maker
Hello Beth, tell me a bit about your time with Future Formed?
I can’t believe it's been over a year since starting with Future Formed. So much has happened. Before I joined the programme, I was feeling a bit uncertain if I could ever break into any sort of creative field and didn't feel very confident. I have taken part in theatre technician training where I learned all about sound and light rigging, toured Little Angel Puppet Theatre (and seen them making puppets!), attended a board game art workshop, watched backstage rehearsals for plays, toured Revel Pucks circus camp and watched their amazing show and been on tours and seen exhibitions at art galleries. Being part of Future Formed has been a continually uplifting experience and helped me realise how many creative opportunities and lovely creatives there are out there.
We saw your work displayed at our event Picture This. What drew you to using polymer clay as your primary medium and how do you strike that balance between stylisation and realism in your work?
Picture This was honestly a highlight of this whole year, not only as my work was shown but I was able to experience all the other work we saw, and in such a brilliant location too - crazy! My puppets were more of an accident if I'm honest. I was originally trying to make illustrations and was getting really frustrated that I couldn't get the lighting and shadows right when drawing my characters, so decided to make kind of crudely made little dolls of them so I could use them as an original reference. But the more I made the dolls the more I realised that I preferred making the figurines to drawing and decided to go all in. It was difficult at first to find a style I really liked as too stylised they were too 'cute' for my liking and too realistic things were getting uncanny. Finding other artists I love and getting inspiration from them is a great way of finding out what you are drawn to and then finding a way of making that inspiration into something of your own.
Can you walk us through your creative process when designing a new character?
Normally when I want to start a new character, I will go through my phone of all the things I have screenshotted that have given me inspiration and start to mull over what kind of character I want to make. Then I'll get loads of references and start making a sketch. Once I am happy, I'll make a front and side facing character sheet and start sculpting with the wire and then move onto putting the clay on top and defining all the features. Once they are done I give them a little paint which is probably my favourite part. Their accessories are sometimes pre-planned but sometimes it's just fun to keep adding things.
Which films or specific characters have had the most influence on your artistic style?
Laika studios who made Coraline. They have a style I really resonate with. Harry Potter is a big one as it feels a lot easier to interpret a character when you are familiar with them. It's a lot of trial and error but you can find yourself teasing out details you didn't know you imagined and then when you start drawing or making it's more like they are appearing in front of you and it's a moment when you look and it and say yeah- that's them!
Congrats on your recent exhibition 'Come As You Really Are' at the Hobby Cave, by Artangel. How did it feel to showcase your work there?
Thank you! Yes, that was an exciting exhibition to be part of. It feels great to be able to say my work is in an exhibition and a good motivation to keep making more. Honestly, I was excited to be part of it, so I pretty much selected all the things I thought were my best pieces!