The Figure in the Carpet
Fibi Cowley
Fibi Cowley is a puppeteer-artist living in Glasgow. They bring things to life through making and performance, inspired by an expanded conception of what puppetry could be, and foregrounding its counter-cultural roots in folk and outsider art. They studied at the Curious School of Puppetry in 2023, and earlier this year co-founded Tiny House Puppetry with Dix McDevitt.
Taking place in an abandoned dolls house at nightfall, this story of intrigue and alienation is crafted through doll-making, shadow puppetry and live folie. This film is informed by lived experience of sensory disturbances, and created in conversation with the Change Mental Health Hearing Voices Service, which offers support in Tayside and Fife.
I made this film to get across to others the highly individual experience of living with hallucinations. Merging my own lived experience with that of others that I spoke to, I created a story that reflects the wildly different responses that hallucinations can illicit: from confusion, to terror, ecstasy and awe.
Fibi Cowley
Through the dolls’ stillness, I wanted to platform the disempowerment created by the stigma around speaking out about hallucinations. Afraid of being branded as “crazy” or a danger to others, many people suffer in silence, isolated from even their closest friends and family. I hope that this artwork can be at least the beginning of a conversation for some who are watching, and to let them know that they’re not alone.
Watch The Figure in the Carpet
Access notes: Flashing lights throughout.
In/Visible Commissions
What does it mean to be ‘visible’ or ‘invisible’ when we think about our mental health?
We commissioned six artists – Deborah Shaw, Fibi Cowley, Meray Diner, Rebecca Livesey-Wright & Indra Wilson, Ritu Arya, and Sarah Forrest – to create new work exploring the theme of In/Visible at the Scottish Mental Health Arts Festival 2024.
