About Artist
I followed my own path toward becoming a puppeteer. Born and raised in the French part of Switzerland, from a German mother and a French-Armenian father, I first earned a Master in Social Geography and Cultural Anthropology. I then spent multiple months traveling and living in Nepal and Kamchatka, before moving to Fairbanks, Alaska, in 2004. There, after working over a decade in informal education and outreach in museums and scientific settings, I developed my puppetry skills through multiple puppetry workshops and classes in Europe and the US.
As an artist, I am particularly inspired by the physical and social environments I live in. Working a lot with wood and shadow, but not only, I design, carve, build and create stories that I perform locally and internationally when possible. I often collaborate with other artists (musicians, writers) or scientists on specific projects and performances for young and adult audiences.
As a teaching artist, I offer residencies in schools, camps for children and workshops for teachers, students, and people of all ages, using puppetry to enhance learning environments, and to bridge cultures, languages, traditions as well as generations.
While being an independent artist, I work as a theater technician for Fairbanks school Borough and as a coordinator on a Rural Arts Initiative project for the Alaska Arts Education Consortium (as of 2024).
I am the humble recipient of a Rasmuson Foundation Individual Artist Award in 2021, the UNIMA-USA travel abroad scholarship and a Connie Boochever fellowship in 2023.
You can learn more about my work on www.chakpuppetry.org.