I rode bareback through the bushy scrub in regional Victoria and absorbed the tensions of bushranger worship and scorn. Was Ned Kelly a hero or a crim, who cared really, I was happy either way. A few decades later or more I found myself diving into my collection of doll bits, stinky costumes, old fur coats and even real horse poop. I reassembled these objects into new puppet-like bodies based on the Kelly family that included a magic chaplain and a protector fox dog, Sheila, taking the Micky. These puppet-like forms fed into one another, their chopped up remnants stitched and stuffed from one figure into the next. Centre stage was my recurring rogue matriarch I call MA, the weary, ever-pregnant, fag-smoking mother of an outlaw. A symbol of defiance, surrender and constant shapeshifting. My odd mob were sent out in the world to be played with, strung and quartered, no strings attached.

This series premiered in Puppets? Everybody Loves Puppets, Oigáll Projects, Melbourne, 2025