Fi Henshall

Fi Henshall took a sculpture degree at Falmouth College of Arts graduating in 2004. She taught herself to carve marionettes, but found the idea of figures which could be made to perform and act out a scene by anyone even more appealing, and made her first automaton in 2009.

She now makes automata from wood, metal, broken machinery, old tins and odd objects, working largely in recycled materials. She borrows techniques from any discipline she can pick up (carving, soldering, engineering, painting, modelling, jewellery making and more) to illustrate stories about strange characters and creatures. Fi is currently working on pieces for Cabaret Mechanical Theatre's new touring exhibition.