This is my Aunt Natalie with two of her five hundred dolls. In addition to being an avid doll collecter, she’s also an accomplished folk artist who works in many different mediums. Natalie was decades ahead of the mashup scene, cutting up and remixing comics with scissors and glue.
I first started photographing dolls a couple of years ago when I took my daughter on a photo safari at a nearby antique mall. Since then, my artistic focus has shifted from shooting avatars in virtual worlds, to photographing dolls and action figures in physical world dioramas. I’ve also developed a mild compulsion that’s lead me to collect dozens (okay, many dozens) of dolls, toys and action figures.
Someone suggested recently that there’s probably some genetic anomaly behind my doll obsession. It’s hard to argue that the connection between my aunt and I is just coincidence. There’s been a lot of discussion in my blogging circles about the role of other people’s influence on our creative work. I wonder how much genetics plays into it. I’ve thought of my Muse as springing from my subconscious. Does she also emerge from my DNA? Interesting.
Agnes Sharple
Botgirl Questi
Bumblebee (Wendz Tempest)
Canary Beck
Carissa Arthurine Somerset
Eva Marie
Fuschia Nightfire
George Coghill
Ironyca Lee
Jeremy Owen Turner
Joseph DeLappe
Kathleen Cool
Katie Vizenor
Krista Hoefle
Kristine Schomaker
Lizzie Gudkov
Aero Bigboots
RMarie Beedit
Marmaduke Arado
Isabella Medici
Nadya Tolokonnikova
Nathan Shafer
Pixel Reanimator
Ravanel Griffon
Scarlett Luv
Strawberry Singh
Tabitha Raincloud
Toni Tyldesley
Trilby Minotaur
Vanessa Blaylock
Xue Faith
Yordie Sands
I don’t know much about Nature / Nurture, but my general sense is that both are pretty significant in many things.
Really, WOW though, what a photo! Fantastic image!
Very cool to make this connection. Maybe your Cloud Party pad can have a little shrine for her! 🙂
I added that image to the Cloud Party exhibit last night. 🙂
Sweet. Do you have a plan for your place at Cloud Party?
Put in a dance floor? Dungeon?
Maybe your great aunt’s doll collection can have a little room of their own – could be pretty intense / wonderful…
I think I’m just going to rotate themed exhibits of my stuff. Next month is going to be visual tweets. Hopefully they’ll add the ability to show video too.
Oh, a Visual Tweets exhib will be cool. Yes, “media on a prim” would be great.
Will you do anything “architectural” there? Or keep it an open field?
The canons are SO cool!
That’s a good question. I haven’t given much thought to the set design. I’m open to collaborating. 🙂