REVIEW

REVIEW | OHIO CRAFT MUSEUM
PLAYING WITH DOLLS
Exhibit's figures have little in common with Barbie

A doll is a doll is a doll. Or is it?

The traditional concept of a doll -- a small figure representing a human -- is challenged in ''Sophisticated Figures: Nontraditional Dolls by Contemporary Artists'' at the Ohio Craft Museum.

Some of the works are fairly realistic renditions of the human figure, but others only vaguely resemble people and seem to have sprung from some fantasyland.

Dolls are usually associated with childhood playthings, curator Judith Nestel said. Some people collect them or view them as folk images. In some cultures, dolls represent tribal spirits.

Nestel had none of these things in mind while planning the exhibition.

Instead, she wanted to ''present dolls in a different context -- as the chosen vehicle of expression of fine contemporary artists.''

She assembled 60 dolls by 20 artists from throughout the United States. The artists' only commonalities are their superb craftsmanship and creativity.

The resulting show offers a fascinating exploration of the diversity of contemporary dolls.

Most of the artists use fabric for the bodies but with such originality that each stands on its own.

Charla Khanna's free-standing stately dolls, including Mandala II , have intriguing iconography -- mainly Oriental with beautiful, colorful costumes and slit eyes on papier-mache faces.

Deborah Banyas' dolls, on the other hand, with their tightly stuffed cotton bodies, are small and dynamic. Birdwatcher is full of fun; it appears to be flying with its skinny legs in purple stockings swinging in the wind.

Ann Citron's acrobats seem to have escaped from Cirque du Soleil. Their fabric bodies are tightly covered with beads that carefully define their facial features and costumes.

One of the most fascinating aspects of the dolls is their hair, executed with wires, beads, threads or horsehair. These dos seem to have a life of their own.

The works of four artists are particularly outstanding.

Akira Blount is a nature lover whose beautiful dolls seem to embody the spirit of woodlands. Made of mixed media in which wood is the dominant material, the dolls exquisitely combine poetry and playfulness. In Protective Intelligence II , the little face, strangely Madonna-like, gives great presence to the figure. The body is an attractive combination of a medieval costume and a cage complete with a bird, and the whole is delightfully lyrical and witty.

Wendy Ellerston favors leather as her material. Stompson and Wyrder establishes an aura of fantasy. Intriguingly, the delicate bird-mask on the doll riding the winged monster can be removed, revealing a wizened little face.

Sha Sha Higby's dolls are props for theatrical shows. With their articulated joints, they vaguely allude to pre-Columbian figures from Mexico. Green Mayan Under the Sun is made of raku (rough lead-glazed earthenware) and holds tiny silk kites -- or are they sunshades? -- giving unexpected dynamism to the rather heavy-looking figure.

Adrienne McDonald created the most perplexing figures in the show. Made of glass, beads and oddly stained and burned feathers, her dolls have no real volume and hardly anything to link them to human figures. Yet their strange appearances rather powerfully call to mind the Macbeth witches.

Caption: (1) Contortionist by Ann Citron; top, Birdwatcher by Deborah Banyas
(2) Left: Protective Intelligence II by Akira Blount
(4) Above: Stompson and Wyrder by Wendy Ellertson

Home