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The Portrait of a Punch Puppet finds its inspiration in motherhood, with the conception of life as an allegory for the gestation of ideas and artistic creation.

The work is a diptych, composed of a large black and white print depicting the belly of a pregnant woman.
A small drawer located over the navel invites the viewer
to open it. An animation and stop-motion video allow us
to discover the stages
of pregnancy as imagined
by Larivière. The artist combines the biological reality of a human foetus with the growth of a butterfly, using drawings and glued paper. This poetic animation gives birth to the puppet.


In the second part of the diptych, we see a colour photograph of a French Punch from 1870.
The old toy shows the symbolic characteristics of the marionette from the commedia dell'arte. Balancing on wheels that allow him to dance,
his costume is made of white linen, a symbol of light and fertility; and red, the colour
of the vital principle and Eros. His large jacket hides a double bump reminiscent
of a woman’s pregnancy.

With this work, Larivière questions the symbolism between the procreation
of life and the creation of art.

Portrait of a Punch Puppet, preparatory drawing for animation, 2017



Portrait of a Punch Puppet, preparatory drawing for animation, 2017

Making-of Portrait of a Punch Puppet,
Jean Larivière in his studio, 2017

Portrait of a Punch Puppet, drawing from the animation, 2017