Val deGroot is a multi-media artist based in Chicago, Illinois. She is a writer, puppeteer, and puppet fabricator. She exposes the psychological and social ramifications of living in an extended hyper-reality in her writing. She proposes alternative futures through her puppets. She loves to disturb a bit. She is inspired to resuscitate the universal human experience on stage, to build bridges across highly atmomizated sub-cultures, and to create collaborative creative spaces where social connection and community engagement are emphasized. She’s here to combat alienation and beat down hopelessness. She is fascinated by the internet, psychology, and ecology. She loves birds. Her fabrication work prioritizes secondhand materials, and sustainable practices to create puppets that battle it out in whimsical and bizarre arenas. She is medium funny.