The title is based on Foucault’s theory of origin that states, “the lofty origin is no more than a ‘metaphysical extension‘ which arises from the belief that things are most precious and essential at the moment of birth’; we tend to think that this is the moment of their greatest perfection, when they emerge dazzling from the hands of a creator or in the shadowless light of a first morning. The origin always precedes the fall. It comes before the body...”. 

For these last two years I’ve been trying to figure out and frame the narrative inside the parameters of two bigger questions: What is more important in the context of animation,the process or its completion? And what is more critical; the hand moving the puppet or the puppet overarching the extension of the human?
My hand becomes a ghost; just an unseen trace of my existence that is caught in between each frame.
The narrative that exists inside of these bigger questions is personal. I’ve implemented my own body/ biology, my own bedroom, my favorite objects, my lived experience and remade/ reimagined them into a miniature scale in trying to see myself and my immediate surrounding in a different perspective. 

It Comes Before the Body, Gabriella Nicole Padilla © 2017

Bellow are a few concept and production sketches for the narrative and puppets.