Jess's profile
I am a zookeeper. I sculpt and construct puppet creatures with animal qualities that capture natural forms and movements through a tension between realism and abstraction. I give life to these creature puppets using intense focus to transfer enigmatic energy through my hands. This allows me to disappear behind the puppet to become a visible invisible puppeteer. My endearing puppets emotionally connect to audiences, like Lucy the Ice-Picker Bird plucking a delicate feather to reach out for interaction. It is in that moment, when the puppet is authentically alive that we discover true magic.
Jess Rassp (she/her/hers) is a Puppetry, Mask, and Performance Artist who practices combining Visual Arts - painting and sculpture - with the physical training of Dance and Martial Arts to perform Puppetry Arts. Inspired by nature, culture, and mythology, her puppetry work fuels environmentally centered narratives and inspires storytelling through the subtleties of creature expression. Throughout Baltimore, Jess has worked as an independent artist with various theatre companies as a leader, designer, and puppetry pioneer exploring her voice in this unique medium. Jess seeks to challenge and reimagine preconcieved expectations of puppetry storytelling and create wordless works that are accessible to people of all backgrounds. In addition to intensive studies in theatre and fine arts, she recieved her B.A. in English Literature from Brandeis University.
Other credits include: Submersive Productions (See Also:, MASS/RABBLE, BATS!, H.T. Darling's Incredible Musaeum), Cohesion Theatre (Tornkid, Frankenstein, La Llorona / The Orphan Sea, Mr. Burns, Sally McCoy), Interrobang Theatre Company (Here We Are), Single Carrot Theatre (Savage Love, Midlife, Year of the Rooster), Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, The Winter's Tale, Othello).
Jess Rassp (she/her/hers) is a Puppetry, Mask, and Performance Artist who practices combining Visual Arts - painting and sculpture - with the physical training of Dance and Martial Arts to perform Puppetry Arts. Inspired by nature, culture, and mythology, her puppetry work fuels environmentally centered narratives and inspires storytelling through the subtleties of creature expression. Throughout Baltimore, Jess has worked as an independent artist with various theatre companies as a leader, designer, and puppetry pioneer exploring her voice in this unique medium. Jess seeks to challenge and reimagine preconcieved expectations of puppetry storytelling and create wordless works that are accessible to people of all backgrounds. In addition to intensive studies in theatre and fine arts, she recieved her B.A. in English Literature from Brandeis University.
Other credits include: Submersive Productions (See Also:, MASS/RABBLE, BATS!, H.T. Darling's Incredible Musaeum), Cohesion Theatre (Tornkid, Frankenstein, La Llorona / The Orphan Sea, Mr. Burns, Sally McCoy), Interrobang Theatre Company (Here We Are), Single Carrot Theatre (Savage Love, Midlife, Year of the Rooster), Chesapeake Shakespeare Company (Dracula, Alice in Wonderland, The Winter's Tale, Othello).
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