It’s really surprising that a two-and-a-half-year-old girl was permitted to handle a pair of scissors by her parents at that tender age! For any toddler her age, clippers are always a big no-no. There was a reason why Judith Hope was allowed this because from her childhood itself she was in love with creating things and knew how to handle the scissors!
Hope started out making cutouts but graduated to creating puppets that ultimately became her true passion. The idea of making puppets took shape in Hope’s mind when she got involved in children’s theatre after graduating with a First Class in BA (Honors) in Fine Art/Textiles at Goldsmiths, University of London, UK.
This is where Hope discovered the art of puppetry and immediately fell in love with it. She realized that it was her true calling. What really attracted her to it were the immense possibilities of a puppet under the expert hands of a puppeteer. On her website, she states, “… I was drawn to create beings that lived and breathed in the hands of a puppeteer.”
However, Hope’s choice of puppets is not your everyday Kermits or Elmos, but enlarged microbes! It was her aim to magnify these microscopic organisms in the form of puppets. Although seeing these reprehensible creatures in this form may churn many-a-stomachs, to her it imparts knowledge of the microscopic world. Just sample her puppets…a virus called bacteriophage with six moving legs, a pink tardigrade that stands upright and sways from side to side, and many more.
Hope didn’t stumble upon creating the puppets of these microscopic organisms but did so for Tatwood Puppets production of Microbodyssey, a shadow theatre imparting a visual experience about the life under a microscope by means of puppetry. Although she also makes puppets for festivals, parades, immersive events, and others, it was these microscopic critters that got her fame.
Hope is currently based in London, UK, and gets her inspiration from folklore and fairytales. She sources her materials from flea markets and the curious objects she finds there fuels her creativity. She’s certainly making her presence felt on social media platforms on the internet.
Judith Hope: Website | Instagram