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I was designing this build as I went, which I have never really done before, drawing the shapes I had made and trying to get an idea of what character the puppet would have. At first I had planned to make a scary creature, but as the project developed it became clear that this build was more like a very old person.  I researched ancient humanoids, elderly people, insects and exoskeletons and representations of ghosts in folklore.

​In performance, the character of the puppet begins as vulnerable and slow moving, then switches to demonic and fantastical.

The torso and limbs are willow withie structures, designed to draw the outlines of the figure.

The body was painted in acrylic using layers of dry-brushing to build up a worn look.

Eyebrows, hair and some body detailing were made from painted string. 

These were covered with tissue paper mache to bind them, and to build texture ready for painting.

The head was carved from polystyrene, then papered and painted in the same way as the body.

A semi-transparent skin for the neck and parts of the body was made using scrim, which was frayed and roughly painted.

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The illustrations themselves are a mix of pen drawing and digital colouring and texturing. The pen drawings focus on details, which I hope help to suggest the differences in experience when deciding, for example, whether to have a sit down meal or a picnic at your funeral. The colour pallet uses autumnal reds, oranges and yellows, with the marks and textures of paint and pastel layered up on top.

Each illustration took around three hours, and as a result of this time spent daydreaming about funerals, something has changed in the way I think about death. I think it happened because every now and then as I was drawing, I'd consider what I might like for my own funeral and in imagining my funeral repeatedly I eventually just accepted it. I'm not sure I'd ever really thought about my own death in a normal way before then. But now that I have, death in general has lost a lot of it's potency. I think about death quite often now, quite comfortably, along side thoughts of life.

I hope that The Crossing can provide the starting point for others to consider their funerals, and death in general, as part of the story of their lives.

How do you want your loved ones to experience and remember your death?