Eva Åkesson’s puppet animations display a labour of love

There’s something so reminiscent about puppeteering, whether it’s memories of watching the Clangers or Bagpuss, being a bit terrified of Punch & Judy, or just making your own sock puppets at home. Manchester Metropolitan student Eva Åkesson has managed to capture this feeling of nostalgia, but with her own contemporary twist.

Eva’s fascination with stop-motion began at a young age: “My first introduction to stop-motion was by my secondary school art teacher and since then I’ve developed a passion for it. I am a lover of nature and collect materials whilst out walking my dog; bones or feathers etc, I try to be resourceful,” she explains. A natural aesthetic is evident throughout her work, consistently using wood tones, cloth materials and an organic range of colours. Concentrating on puppet making is a new direction for Eva, surprising for how accomplished her work appears,

“I only really started this year as I branched off down the animation pathway on my course, it allowed me to experiment a lot more. I had made marionettes in the past but making puppets for stop-motion was completely new for me. I’ve always been able to craft quite well, mimicking things. I tried taxidermy for a while, a lot of my early work was on the sculptural side.”