Photos courtesy of Maria Loewenstein

Bio

Born in Albuquerque, NM to parents of American Indian, English and Irish decent, Randall is a true romantic with a cutting-edge style. Educated at the prestigious California Institute for the Arts, he holds a BFA in Acting and obtained his MFA in Directing from Sarah Lawrence College in Bronxville, New York, where he fell into the vibrant puppet world of NYC that changed his life forever. Whittinghill’s boundless creativity has led to collaborations with such artists as Erik Sanko and the Kronos Quartet, puppeteering  at venues such as UCLA Live!, Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM), the OBIE award–winning Here Arts Center, The Hopkins Center for the Arts at Dartmouth and St. Ann’s Warehouse, Brooklyn’s most desirable and pioneering spaces, among others. He has participated in theatre and dance performances at MASS MoCA, The REDCAT and Mabou Mines.

Artist statement:

The majority of my works are made from mechanical, self-wound clocks that were manufactured in the late 1800’s. There’s something about the concept of time coming apart that I find incredibly alluring. I’m fascinated by how things naturally coalesce, and how the work starts to build itself once I find something that fits. The way a structure holds itself together is one of the very honest aspects of my work.

I endeavor to render each of my characters with empathy, so there’s a real innocent, imaginative exploration at play. I create these marionettes because I’m curious about people, and I use this medium as a way to communicate.

I love the unexpected associations that “language movement” can evoke and I think people are fascinated once they experience the gap between “marionette” and “character” being filled with movement. The work I do is really just another form of storytelling.