Creative Process Journal: Les Jeux de la Poupee (The Doll's Games)

Les jeux de la poupee by Hans Bellmer 1949  

Hans Bellmer (1902-1975) was a German artist, who used self-crafted life sized dolls assembled from a range of materials in photographs which explored erotic themes. He hand-coloured the images and published ten of them in a book in 1934. Bellmer made a second doll in 1935 using the head and hands from the first doll and also incorporating a number of ball and socket joints which allowed the doll to be manipulated into a variety of contortions. The doll had interchangeable limbs and other parts, as well as an extensive wardrobe. He photographed this work in 1935 but it was not published until 1949, in part because his work was considered 'Degenerate' by the Nazis (Wood 316). Bellmer's is associated with the Surrealist movement, and after moving to Paris in 1938, he spent some time in an interment camp in the south of France alongside Max Ernst.

Various authors have suggested two sources of inspiration for Bellmer's work. In 1931, Bellmer attended Max Reinhardt's production of The Tales of Hoffman in which there is a mechanical girl/doll named Olympia who seduces a living man (Freud also mentioned this literary work in his essay The Uncanny). As well, Bellmer's mother apparently sent him a box of childhood toys which included broken dolls (Sulick 14). Whatever the inspiration, Bellmer was not the only artist using dolls or mannequins at the time. Man Ray, Max Ernst, Marcel Duchamp, Andre Masson and others all incorporated dolls into their artistic practice around this time.

I find Bellmer's photographs disturbing, but also strangely fascinating. The bizarre range of contortions and dismembered limbs are haunting, but as abstract forms, the images are striking in their virtuosity of composition.

References:

Sulick, Amber Rae. Hans Bellmer's "Les Jeux De La Poupee". Ed. Hans Bellmer and Joint Graduate Program in Photographic Preservation and Collections Management, 2008.

Wood, Ghislaine. Surreal Things: Surrealism and Design. London: V&A Publications, 2007.

P.S. The Canadian Opera Company is performing The Tales of Hoffman in their spring production lineup (April 10 - May 14, 2012). I plan on attending. For more information, visit the COC website here.

Creative Process Journal: Freud and The Uncanny

In 1919, Sigmund Freud wrote an essay called The Uncanny in which he described the intense feeling of strangeness that can occur when encountering something that is both familiar and unfamiliar at the same time, causing doubt as to whether or not the object is, in fact, alive. The essay begins with a semantic analysis of the origins of the German word for uncanny, which is unheimlich and its opposite, heimlich which means homely. He ties the notion of uncanny to something that is familiar but strangely unsettling, such as dolls, doubles and waxwork figures. 

Wax-head doll. English c.1882

Freud also analyzed the idea of the double in his essay, drawing on the writings of Otto Rank who linked the double to “mirror-images, shadows, guardian spirits, the doctrine of the soul and the fear of death”. Doubles were used in ancient civilizations, where artists formed images of the dead as “assurance of immortality” and an “energetic denial of the power of death”.  Freud suggested that the double “having once been an assurance of immortality”, could also be an “uncanny harbinger of death.” (Freud 142). He also describes the fantasy of being mistakenly buried alive as "the most uncanny thing of all". 

Twin dolls c. 1840

In the 2008 Viktor and Rolf retrospective at the Barican Gallery, the use of dolls as mannequins was a curatorial choice designed to invoke a sense of the uncanny. The curator Caroline Evans mentions this in her essay from the exhibition catalogue and asks "If the dolls in the Barbican came to life, what might they not do? With career ambitions to match those of their makes, they may even now be planning their future in the powerhouse of Viktor and Rolf" (Evans 20). 


Image credits: H. Landshoff from The Doll (1972)


References:
Evans, Caroline and Frankel, Susannah. The House of Viktor and Rolf. London: Merrell. 2008.
Freud, Sigmund. The Uncanny. London: Penguin Books, 2005.

Fox, Carl. The Doll. New York: Harry N. Abrams Inc, 1972.

Interview with Doll Artist Karen Kline

Karen Kline with her fashion dolls 2010

For Karen Kline, making a doll is a creative act that brings much joy to her life. Once a fashion model and then a window dresser in Chicago, her days presently involve much less glamourous duties like assisting her husband in his Florida-based marine business. But, in making a doll, she is transported into another world, one where fairies and fashion rule.

Karen writes the blog Kaerie Fairie where she presents her dolls to the world before putting them for sale in her Etsy shop. Having previously created a line of fairy dolls, she recently was inspired by my blog post about the Coco Chanel dolls to begin a new line of fashion dolls. It was her gift of a doll that inspired me to learn more about this talented doll artist.

Ingrid: To begin with, what shall I call you? Karen, Karey, or Kaerie Faerie?
Karen: I answer to all of them. When I was a teenager, I was called Twigs, because I was so painfully thin. Later when I started modeling, I got the nickname Karey. And several years ago, a good friend started calling me Kaerie Faerie in her e-mails. I loved all my nick-names so I used them all when I started my shop and blog.

Ingrid: Why are you drawn to fairies?
Karen: My love of faeries began when I was a child. My Mother, who had once been a ballerina, told stories of faeries dancing in the garden and hiding in my bedroom.  I started taking ballet at the age of four, and ballet and faeries became my whole world. As a little girl, I was mesmerized by the graceful ballerinas and imagined they had wings.

Ingrid: What is your earliest memory involving dolls? 

Karen: My Mother and Grandmother made dolls. Mother made a collection of Alice in Wonderland dolls, and pocket dolls that fit in my jumper pockets, all the dolls were made from fabric, with hand sewn faces.

Ingrid: When did you begin making dolls?
Karen: As a very young child, my Mother and I would make dolls together, creating dolls and sewing little doll outfits, which gave me all the basics of sewing.

Ingrid: What do you enjoy about the process of doll making?
Karen: I love what I call the treasure hunt, choosing fabrics or dying or painting my own for designing the clothing and all the creative embellishments.

Ingrid: Describe the process of making a doll from conception to completion.   
Karen: Making a doll starts with a idea, usually something I see. I get ideas from everything. Sometimes I draw a cartoon of  what I want to create other times I just draw a pattern of a doll. The clothing concept starts after the doll is made and ready to be dressed, many times the cartoon I've drawn and the doll don't look anything alike. I free-form design on a body and all my patterns for clothing are cut around the dolls body. Just like my Couture Dressmaking skills are all cut on a dress-form.

Ingrid: What is the biggest challenge or obstacle that you encounter in making a doll?
Karen: It is difficult to get the perfect body shape because I try to make a shapely female body without a lot of seams.

Ingrid: What inspired you to make the Chanel inspired doll? 
Karen: It was your blog, and the department store window picture. When I was in my twenties, I worked as a window dresser for Marshall Fields in Chicago. Dolls like those are window props and you would probably never be able to get one. I enjoy copying fashion I see, it is a challenge and these dolls were fun to make and easy. And I thought it would be sweet to share a doll with you, since you wrote that adorable blog post.

Ingrid: Can you describe a memorable incident or person that you met during your career as a model? 
Karen: I modeled in the late 60's and 1970's I worked lots of trade shows and catalog, but many young designers started in the warehouses in Chicago. I worked as a fitting model, in show-rooms, salons, private shows and ladies luncheons.  I met Halston, and several others that went on to become enormous fashion icons. Walking in something new and creative was always so exciting!      

Ingrid: What is the most memorable dress/outfit you ever wore as a model? 
Karen: It was a peach colored silk chiffon crystal studded gown, designed by Zaharoff. It floated like a fairy dress, it was very naked, I wore it on the beach for a shoot.

Ingrid: Who are your favourite fashion designers? 
Karen: Of the French designers Chanel, YSL, and Dior are my favorite. Of the US designers, Calvin Klein, Ralph Lauren, Michael Kors offer beautifully made clothing.  

Ingrid: I know that you sometimes make clothes for your dolls from your own wardrobe discards. Do you ever cringe when cutting up an old favourite? 
Karen: No, because I'm giving it new life, and I only cut up what I can't wear anymore.

Ingrid: What is your favourite doll that you have made? Or is the last doll you made, always your favourite?
Karen:  I have two soft faeries I made years ago that I never put them away. They live where I can see them and they are called secrets because they sit whispering to each other.

Ingrid: Are you ever sad to box up a favourite doll for a new owner? 
Karen: No, I love to share. I always say goodbye have a safe trip.

Ingrid: What is the last book you read? 
Karen: I read a lot of vintage fashion books, I just finished Patou, Meredith Etherington-Smith. I'm crazy for the French fashion of 1920's.

Ingrid: How do you define success? 

Karen: It is about the art work.  I have not been bored from making dolls. I feel like I have finally found my artistic niche and selling is just the icing on the cake.

To see more of Karen's dolls, visit her blog Kaerie Faerie or her Etsy shop.

Santa didn't come through but Karen did.....

It was back to work yesterday and as I walked by the Chanel store on my way to the museum, I could not help but notice that their windows still display the oh-so-lovely Coco Chanel dolls. Even though I'd heard that these dolls were not for sale, I thought Santa could do anything...

Luckily my disappointment was short-lived because the very next day, I got an email from the talented doll-maker Karen Kline telling me that she made two of these dolls after seeing my post.

Fashion dolls by Karen Kline 2010

Karen made one for herself and one for me!! Can you believe how lucky I am to have such a talented, thoughtful and generous friend?

A doll for me!

Karen is not selling these particular dolls, but this project has inspired her to begin a line of fashion dolls.

Fashion doll in progress by Karen Kline 2010

I'll be interviewing Karen in an upcoming post. In the meantime, please visit her doll-lightful blog here. Or visit her Etsy shop here.

Photo credits: Karen Kline 2010

Dear Santa, I want a Chanel Doll for Christmas!

Dear Santa,
I've been a very good girl this year. I did all my chores every day and I orchestrated my mother's three moves in eight months. I ate more vegetables than ever, including lots of broccoli which is not really to my liking. I was kind and patient with all, even when it wasn't appreciated or reciprocated. 
I wasn't going to ask for anything this year but I just cannot help myself. On my way to work at the museum I stopped to admire these oh-so-cute Coco Chanel dolls in the window of Chanel. I think they are just over the top fabulous!! I would never buy such a thing for myself, but maybe you might put one under the tree for me.
I hope you will enjoy a relaxing holiday after your Christmas duties are done for the year. 
Wishing you all the best,
Ingrid
P.S. I've attached a photo for you, just in case you are not sure which doll it is.

Fashion Dolls

As a little girl, I was enchanted by dolls. I only had two dolls to play with, but I also had a collection of dolls from around the world. Each time my father travelled for business, he would come home with a doll from the country that he visited. He took great delight in presenting the doll to me and I can still remember those moments in vivid detail.

Although today dolls are generally viewed as playthings, it wasn't always so. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, fashion dolls were used by dressmakers as a way of illustrating the latest styles to their potential clients. Dolls dressed in the latest Parisian styles were on display in fashionable shops along the rue Saint Honore and also sent monthly to London and to the courts of Europe. The dolls were considered "precious" and sometimes even had diplomatic immunity during times of war.

Although the most fashionable dolls originated from Paris, dolls were also made up in England and sent to the American colonies, where England was the dominant cultural influence.

The two wooden dolls shown in the photo are from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, England and are known as Lord and Lady Clapham. (Although the Department of Textiles and Dress in the V&A has approximately forty dolls in their collection, only these two were on display when I visited in July 2008.) Dated from about 1695, Lord and Lady Clapham came complete with their accessories and the wooden chairs on which they sit.

Fashion dolls were popular until fashion plates and fashion journals became more established and widely accessible in the nineteenth century.

P.S. As a follow-up to Thursday's post about Aprons and Random Acts of Kindness, here is the list of winners:

Kelly of The Chic Geek
Judith of Studio Judith
Ms. Lucy of Enchanted by Josephine
Renee of Circling My Head

If you are a winner, please email me at artismylife@mac.com.

Santos Cage Dolls

On Thursday, I posted an image of an antique doll on a stand and Judith Thibeau of Studio Judith helped me identify what it was. This type of doll is called a Santos Cage Doll and is highly collectible.

Often found in Portuguese or Spanish communities, these dolls were used in Catholic religious processions and were often elaborately dressed in beautiful gowns and topped with golden crowns. These dolls would occupy a place of prominence in the home of a wealthy person or chapel. The cage could also be used as a sort of prayer shrine with objects placed inside the cage.

I am drawn to their spare and haunting elegance. After researching these dolls, I realized that the first one I purchased was likely a reproduction, but since I practically got her for free, I went back to the antique shop and bought the other one. I think the pair of them will be a new source of inspiration in my artistic practice. I might even have to create some elegant gowns for these lovely ladies.

Antique Doll on a Stand

Yesterday while poking around a vintage shop on Queen Street, I came across this antique doll on a stand. Unfortunately, the owner of the store could not tell me anything about its history. The doll is about 2 feet tall and has a beautifully painted face and articulated joints in the arms.

Has anyone ever seen something like this? I'd love to research the doll but don't even know where to begin. Help!