Dolls

Marilyn Radzat

Shadow Dancer

Shadow Dancer

Marilyn Radzat has been creating incredible fantasy dolls for 35 years.

Sunrise Sea Dragon

Sunrise Sea Dragon

Many of her costumes are “hardscapes;” gowns created in plaster, and heavily mosaiced with glass, mirrors, pearls, shells, and other items. Material comes from her extensive collection of antique fabrics.

Winter's Dream

Winter’s Dream

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Goddess of the Fourth Chakra

Goddess of the Fourth Chakra

Hands are often sculpted to form a Toaist blessing.

Phoenix Rising

Phoenix Rising

Scorpio

Scorpio

Scorpio (detail)

Scorpio (detail)

While she is not currently teaching, all of her classes are available for download.

The Offering

The Offering

The Offering (detail)

The Offering (detail)

As you can probably guess, my favorites are her vampires.

The Winter's Bride

The Winter’s Bride

Shirrstone Shelter

Green Lady

Green Lady

Shirrstone Shelter creates delicately-featured dolls with deep inner lives.

Yia

Yia

Often, limbs are replaced with braided-wool tentacles. Some are snake-like, coming to a point instead of fingers and toes. They suggest a magical world existing aside our own.

Serpenta

Serpenta

The dolls are created by Olga and Nikolay, from St. Petersburg, Russia.

Carnem

Carnem

Through trial and error, they developed a formula of liquid epoxy, powder, and pigment with which to build their dolls. Visually, the medium resembles porcelain, though it is stronger, and has a more substantial feel.

Lunam

Lunam

Layers of leather are added to joints, to help the doll keep poses.

Felis Manul

Felis Manul

 

Moona

Moona

“The world is full of half tones, and we are trying to catch them…”

Dorote Zaukaite

November Morning

November Morning

Sometimes my imagination gets carried away by a simple landscape or sunlight at a special time of day. Then such dolls as November Morning are born.

Dorote Zaukaite, aka Tireless Artist, creates her marvelous dolls in Kaunas, Lithuania.

Eve

Eve

 I would not call them humans; I would say they are reflections of human thoughts.

It can take Dorote 1-8 months to complete a doll. She works in paper clay, and creates her costumes from scratch, often hand-dying material.

Looking for True Colors

Looking for True Colors

My journey as a professional doll artist started when I saw a photo of an Asian BJD for the first time. I was amazed by the way the doll was posing, and by the sadness in her eyes.

 

Dirvolira

Dirvolira

Dirvolira is an ancient Lithuanian goddness of fields and households. We have very little information about our ancient gods, as Christianity erased them from people’s memory. I wanted to bring her back to life – a fragile forgotten goddess from a deep past.

Dorote thinks of the complete doll as a work of art, achieving “harmony between the doll and her costume.”  Costuming a doll can take longer than sculpting.

Lady in Waiting

Lady in Waiting

I am fragile on the outside and strong on the  inside – like my characters. These proportions help me to convey that feeling.

All of her wigs are made from natural wool or mohair. The wig-making process takes about 20 hours.

Gloria

Gloria

I have just discovered steampunk, and I must admit I love it. Gloria is my first steampunk style doll, but I am thinking on making more of them. I just love the idea of connecting Victorian style clothing, steam machines and human figure into one art piece.

Dorote is a planner. When she has a solid idea, she sketches first, perhaps does some research, then carefully plans how to doll will look before she begins sculpting.

Heartbeat

Heartbeat

The whole creation process gives me a lot of joy and pleasure. I am always full of excitement and curiosity about how the doll will turn out. I see her getting more and more alive in my hands – that feeling is incredible.

Dorote has an infrequently updated blog and an slightly less neglected facebook page.  The best way to see her work is on her flickr photostream.

White Coffee with Ice

White Coffee with Ice

Quotes lifted from Lost and Found Magazine, and BJD magazine.

 

Tari Nakagawa

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Tari Nakagawa makes his gorgeous, disturbing dolls in Sapporo, Japan.

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He studied under Ryo Yoshida (translated page) at Doll Space Pygmalion.

This video documents an exhibition of his “necro nymphs.” The music kicks in at about 40 seconds.

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Despite the name, Nakagawa’s dolls seem alive–their stares more soul-plumbing than vacant.

shonen01

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Except when they’re sleeping. Or are they?

See more at his site, Kostnice (translated), named, I assume for Sedlec Ossuary.

Bury Me Baubles

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Nivial Neve

TAUT makes delicate, melancholy dolls from paper clay.

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She strives for sustainability, her favorite building material being scrap.

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The Etsy Shop is currently closed, but there are lots of places to find her whimsical, spooky work.

W Whispers Wyn

W Whispers Wyn

Her facebook page is full of wonderful photos. You can also brows TAUT’s art on deviantArt, Pinterest, and Tumblr.

Fractured Fala Flaunts

Fractured Fala Flaunts

I’m going to follow her in several places, so I don’t miss anything.

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Jaworska 01

Skene

Jolanta & Katarzyna Jaworska are twins from Warsaw, Poland. Unsatisfied with the dolls already available on the market, they decided to create their own. They began with Euria, an anthropomorphized equine, learning as they went along. Though neither had a background in art, their designs flare with precision, delicacy, and life.

Nicolina

Nicolina

With their second project, Skene, they wanted a lithe, exaggerated female form with extra flexibility.

Skene

Skene

Part of their solution was a double-jointed hip, allowing a very feminine hip-cocked stance.

Szarlotka

Szarlotka

Szarlotka (Polish for “apple pie”) was intended to be a light-hearted doll. Though charming, I find this bunny still has a bit of edge.

See more of their beautiful work at their site, Buried in Oblivion.