Atlas posing at Studio Cafe with one of his puppet heads. Photo by Jess Morgan.

Since moving to Duluth from the South about two years ago, Atlas, or the artist behind Promontoy Palace, has been interweaving his solo artistic practice into local arts projects. His work can be found at the upcoming Dollhaus event, as well as an upcoming show in August at Studio Cafe. He utilizes puppets, poetry, paintings and ambient music to tell stories through a variety of mediums. To learn more about his current and upcoming work, check out the recent interview below.

How would you describe the different mediums that you work with?

I work with a wide range of mediums as of right now and I am always open to learning more. So far I work with surreal or abstract acrylic painting, papier-mâché puppet-head making, wool felting, organ playing and music production, clay sculpting for puppets or masks, stained glass, poetry, video poetry, video production, stop motion and general short-story writing.

What would you say is your main discipline? Or, the thread that ties all of your different mediums together?

The thread that ties it all together for me is poetry and story-telling. Apart from stained glass, everything I create starts out as a poem or a narrative I’m trying to share. Sometimes it comes during the process, too. I can get an abstract thought about myself and I then turn it into a painting, and once the painting is finished a poem will come out of that. I like to think that I am a visual artist for my writing and poetic persona.

What do you like about pairing other mediums together with poetry and storytelling? How do you think it helps color in those narratives?

With poetry and writing being the center of it all, the other mediums are a way for me to visualize that world within myself externally. Sometimes for me it’s not enough just to read the words on a page. I need the visceral feeling of acting it out as a giant puppet, or tediously creating a stop-motion visual, or to get more lost in the translation with my ambient spoken word music. I don’t think I could ever be just a poet who only writes. I need to see my fantasies, parallels or worlds come to fruition.

Photo by Jess Morgan.

What are some of the main themes included in your work?

I am somewhat of a soft goth romantic who is always contemplating my relationship with death, grief, sorrow, pain, life, the beauty of nature, and of course deep love. I carry a lot of grief from my past and missing Tennessee, so I often think about who I am in relation to my memories and who I am now. Especially as a pansexual trans person. It seems that my overarching theme would be self discovery/reflection within those sub themes.

Why have you selected Promontory Palace as the name for your artistic platforms?

Growing up I had a really hard time feeling like there was a place for me. I grew up Southern Baptist in East Tennessee with a preacher for a grandad and always felt like the sore thumb that tried to keep it all together. Even now as an adult, I feel like it’s hard for me to feel like I belong within my own queer communities having that background and coming out later in life. With that being said, I always loved that weird claymation movie Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer and the Island of Misfit Toys. I have a small circle of people that are also outcasts that I love so fiercely. Promontory Palace is inspired by that idea of the Island of Misfit Toys for myself and all my fellow outcasts. A promontory is a high point of land that juts out facing the water, often bracing the ocean’s non-stop waves and crashes. Its resilience is inspiring to me to say the least, and more of a metaphor of my life than it being an island. Regardless of what life throws at me, I know my worth and the sense of home feeling I bring to everywhere I go. It’s a Palace. A Promontory Palace.

What appeals to you about working with puppets and costumes?

I’m not someone who has a hard time expressing myself or my opinions in the world. However, there’s something eerie and mystical that puppets allow me to fully step into another iteration of myself that I may not be able to just as Atlas. Going back to storytelling and poetry being the glue to this surreal world I am creating, I am the main character for the most part and creating a small or large-scale puppet allows me to fully step into that narrative I am trying to tell. With my costumes, I often use mostly clothes from my own closet to repurpose. My Syd the Scarecrow character has scraps of my grandparents’ flannels I used to wear and old Carhartt workpants I’ve worn while working in farms back down south. Masks, puppets and costuming are essential for me in storytelling.

Peices used for the stop-motion video that will be released on the Promontory Palace YouTube page soon.

Can you tell me more about the stop-motion set-up display you showed me during the photoshoot?

So the set-up from our shoot is a sneak preview into the fourth episode. My newest giant puppet character, Raunchy Randy will be exploring his transexual nature in the live action bits with my smaller character, Felix, exploring his […] in the stopmotion scenes. A lot of the props are made out of clay and handpainted by myself. I don’t want to give too much away, but just know it’ll be one of my most wacky and devious episodes yet!

Atlas demos their stop-motion display that will be included in an upcoming video. Photo taken at Studio Cafe by Jess Morgan.

Can you describe the recent and upcoming projects that have incorporated puppets? Such as the trash pick-up in puppets, the Smelt Parade, or Dollhaus?

So recently, I finished episode three of my puppet show on YouTube, “Pitsy and Arthur hound for trash treasure,” which was a wonderful collaboration with my wife Birdie. I had felted us a set of masks heavily inspired by the creatures from the video game Pikmin and I had the thought we would go hound for trash as if it was treasure, but with a twist at the end. It was so much fun being a little freak in the woods with my wife on that one.

I had finally met Jim and some other folks involved with the local smelt parade. I had the lovely honor of being the cowboy smelt, but I added a puppet rattle snake that one of the local kids lovingly named Taco. I learned a lot from Jim and the community there, and I am really looking forward to applying the knowledge they all shared to my next round of puppet-head making.

Smelt puppets roaming Canal Park at the annual smelt parade. The cowboy smelt (right) is a look worn and created by Atlas. Photo by Miro Zajchowski.

Lastly, a local artist in town, Cherry Koch, asked me if I wanted to be a part of this incredible event in town called Dollhaus. Essentially the theme is “Not of this Earth” and the designers can create wearable art with what they interpret. I already had a puppet character who I have developed that I felt fit this category but with this event I decided to push it even further with the costume and incorporate more fantastical adornments that you can see on Friday, June 20. Also, my fourth episode in my puppet show will center this character, too. So you can see the full persona on my YouTube channel in the near future.

What projects have you worked on in the Duluth, Minnesota area?

I’d say aside from the Dollhaus event, I’m focused right now on my solo show happening in August at Studio Cafe. It will consist mostly of my large-scale paintings with poetry and photography. I am hoping to get some more time and maybe funding to publish my first poetry book this year or next.

What are you looking forward to the most about the Dollhaus event?

Definitely the opportunity to perform and especially with other queer people. I want more opportunities for performance art in general, but this is a special way to perform with artists I’ve yet to meet. I am really thrilled to see how everyone takes the theme into their craft. I hope it inspires me to lean into seeking more spaces to perform and put myself more out there.

What was your favorite project up to this point in your artistic journey? Can you describe that project or moment?

I’m not sure if I can fully answer that. Maybe I am more partial to my puppet show, since it entails so many different mediums into one bigger picture. However, I have a deep desire to make more ambient music with spoken word to maybe perform or create a full-length album. Though my favorite moment so far on this journey was the night of my first solo show back in Bellingham, WA. It was a huge accomplishment for me to make that happen, and I’m proud of myself that just the following year in a new city and state that I’ve got the opportunity for my second one. I have lots to be grateful for.

What are you working on right now, or working on next?

Once the Dollhaus event is past I’ll be focusing on my solo show and shifting gears back to painting. Of course there is the fourth episode I’m brewing up along with some poetry and music. I’ve got my fingers in many pots to say the least.

Is there anything else that you’d like to mention about your work?

I suppose I’ll say my work is deeply personal, about how I interpret all the iterations of my life and that my memories and experiences are always at the forefront of my storytelling. I hope that especially other southern trans people see themselves in my work most of all.

Atlas can be found on YouTube, Instagram and Soundcloud as @promontory_palace. And of course, at the upcoming the Dollhaus event on June 20 at the Main Club, and the solo show at Studio Cafe to be announced soon. Dates for the August show will be shared on his Instagram page, soon.