Gezkin

Gezkin was the second full puppet I ever made, and the largest! He was born out of a lighting strike of inspiration, maybe, and I spent the better part of three days furiously hot-glueing him together. His entire structure is cardboard, save for the wooden dowel that connects to his hand, and his skin is entirely paper bags. His eyes are ping-pong balls and he's got a rock hidden in the end of his tail for weight. He was first created in 2018, and has come to many conventions with me since. As such, he's needed a lot of little upgrades and patch jobs over the years.

In 2018, Gezkin came with me to the San Mateo Maker Faire. In 2019, I applied for their young maker program, giving me an exhibitor's access and a free booth (which I only used as a headquarters to store my stuff, being a walk-around exhibit). I had such a wonderful time performing for the guests there, andthe experience got me invested in puppetry, especially in-person and off-the-cuff moments. It's a lot of fun having puppets where people don't expect them, a lot of people even thing he's real when they see him from afar.

Practising with the same puppet for years allowed me to really hone my craft, to focus in on the charcater-defining movements as well as keeping an "ambient" ammount of movement that makes him seem alive. His head foolowing people walking past me, his legs shifting his position on my shoulders, even opening and closing his mouth absently.

In 2019, I applied for an art showcase & competition through my school. These are the photos I took of him for it: