Life & Work with Jordana Pedroso

Today we’d like to introduce you to Jordana Pedroso.

Hi Jordana, thanks for joining us today. We’d love for you to start by introducing yourself. 
Since I was a child, I have always had an aptitude for arts in general, I really enjoyed painting, sewing, drawing, making paper collages, among other activities that encouraged creativity. When I entered the Faculty of Visual Arts – drawing and plastic – in 2018, I still didn’t work with puppets or stop motion. During my studies, I came into contact with a very wide range of materials, and with many artistic and cinematographic influences, I began to get closer to the world of stop motion. 

So, when the Covid-19 pandemic hit, and I spent a lot of time at home, I tried to revive my old passions for sewing and modeling and combine them with my technical learning. I was inspired by stop motions like Fantastic Mr. Fox and Isle of Dogs to make my first doll prototypes, and so I evolved more and more in the production process. 

I currently work with my artistic production of puppets and also as a costume designer and hair/fur design for stop-motion productions in general. 

I’m sure it wasn’t obstacle-free, but would you say the journey has been fairly smooth so far?
I believe that, like any artistic process, the beginning is always a difficult journey. When I started my studies more focused on working with fur, I didn’t easily find support material on the internet that could help me with how to do it. I believe this helped me expand my ideas regarding the use of materials and ended up being crucial for me to develop creative solutions in my pieces. But overall, my trajectory as an artist has been very organic, and I’m happy to see an evolution in my work. 

Thanks – so, what else should our readers know about your work and what you’re currently focused on?
I work with the creation of artistic puppets that range from animatable puppets to sculptures inspired by stop-motion productions. Furthermore, I also work directly with stop motion in the manufacture of clothes, accessories, props and in the development of textures such as hair, feathers, and fur. The part of my work that I like most and am most proud of is being careful about the details of the pieces and giving them a realistic but stylized look at the same time. 

Any advice for finding a mentor or networking in general?
I think that with social media, promoting our work is always a good opportunity to find people with similar interests and get closer to our work niche. Having approached people who already have experience in the film or stop motion market helped me to increasingly expand my inspirations. 

Contact Info:

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jordanacpedroso/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jordana-pedroso-bb8843203/
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/jordanacpedroso
• Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@jordanapedroso8702

Image Credits
Jordana Pedroso