Erika Norris

Bio

Erika Norris: The Puppeteer’s Workshop

My collection entitled the “Puppeteer’s workshop” is a story I am trying to bring to life. Since I was young, I have always had a fascination with puppets. From children’s books about sad puppets to the time I tried learning how to carve to create a marionette. I really do trace my exploration of hobbies and my eventual discovery of sewing to that moment, so it seems fitting that for my final senior collection I would try to transform my models into marionettes that have been created by an unstable, highly skilled puppeteer. I will play the role of the puppeteer’s seamstress and clip their strings the night of the show to release them from the mad genius’s workshop. They are in fragile condition, their clothes ragged and torn mildewed with age as they creep away to freedom. I will capture this delicate decay with silk chiffons, brocades, and lots of fabric manipulation.