Artist Statement
Dolls VI is the smallest from a larger suite of photogravure prints produced in 2014. It shows a collection of small porcelain dolls that were made in Germany in the 19th Century. These dolls were discarded due to damage at the factory where they were made. They were recently dug up from the garbage heap outside the factory and still show the dirt from burial. The photo-polymer gravure intaglio print process heightens the surface detail and dirt on these 2 inch to 4 inch dolls. The rest of the suite is at an enlarged scale to exaggerate their condition. The viewers’ discomfort is heightened when confronted with the dolls’ vulnerable, damaged and exposed bodies at almost life scale.
This suite is an exploration of the balancing act between sentimentality and discomfort; cuteness and decay; child-like innocence and violation; all as illustrated by artifacts taken out of context and time.
Dolls VI is a small frieze of the dolls at actual scale and gives the viewer a sense of the source compared to the grossly enlarged scale of the other prints in the suite.