Enchanted Doll

Our weekly dose of Friday Inspiration has arrived! But first, a story.

I have a private board on my Pinterest. It's called The Bone Room, and if at first it was used to hold images of articulated animal skeletons (very important, if you're me and have had a cat skeleton for a year), now it's kind of turned into my depository for things I want to post about. Eventually. I never really planned for this "inspiration" thing to become a regular feature on the blog, but I think it's kind of helped me narrow down what fits my personal aesthetic, and what doesn't. I'm a very visual person, but being so detail-oriented I can usually find something to like in pretty much everything. But how do I reconcile my love of streamlined monochrome with my love of baroque exaggeration? I don't know, but I guess we can consider that my new crusade.

Anyway. Today's featured artist is Marina Bychkova, a Russian-Canadian figurative artist, and founder of Enchanted Doll, a luxury toy label of exquisite, porcelain dolls.

More than mere playthings, Enchanted Dolls are elegantly sculpted and articulated works of art. Strikingly nude, engraved or adorned in opulent sculptural costumes of precious metals, gemstones, and rare found objects, each doll intricately conveys an aspect of our humanity. Unique and delicate, their forms evoke a strong emotional response, haunting us with their vulnerability. All at once innocent and sexual, Enchanted Dolls depict highly stylized images of femininity, while at the same time reflecting on life’s playful naiveté.

The first time I saw these, they were featured in some art blog (I really can't remember the name, I think it was more than a year ago), and the commenters kept mentioning how the dolls made them uncomfortable, due to them being anatomically correct and whatnot. Honestly, I find that striking about them. The discomfort. At first, I felt it too, and it made me wonder why. Is it because dolls are predominantly objects we associate with children? So does that mean I think genitals are inappropriate for children? Or is because adding genitals to a doll means sexualising it? But then, I would be saying that full nudity is inherently sexual, and I really don't think it is. Am I just a prude? Am I just playing into society's fear of genitals? Deep thoughts to be having around a doll, huh.

What do you think?
xx

Science!

Hey, remember that time I talked about going on a daytrip to Lisbon with my sister? I do, and it's a little disconcerting to look back and realise that post is actually from June. Where did the time go?

Regardless, let me tell you all about that daytrip. I wanted to see an exhibit in Lisbon, and being the baby wanderluster I am, I decided I'd take a train and go alone instead of turning the day into a family trip. Eventually, I decided it'd be much better to take my sister along, and down South we went. It was fun. Exhibit in the morning, lunch around the Gulbenkian gardens, then a visit to the Botanic Garden (including the Butterfly House, which I've already posted about because some things you just can't postpone...) and the Natural History Museum in the afternoon.

Well. The Natural History Museum, full name National Museum Of National History And Science, was... a conflicting experience. For once, I was expecting a lot of natural history and I ended up getting a lot of science. Nothing wrong with that, but when you enter a mammoth of a place (I wore my burgundy blazer for that!) expecting to find taxidermy and skeletons and formaldehyde jars at every turn, you can't help but feel disappointed when you realise there's only one (ONE!) zoology room. Well, three if we count the dinosaurs, but do I look like a dinosaur fan to you? I mean, they're cool, but they feel really distant to me, almost unreal - it's hard to explain.

So let's just say I really enjoyed my stroll through the amphitheater and the chemistry lab, I kind of rushed through mineralogy because you can only look at the same crystals in every museum in the country so many times before you tire, and then I... well, I behaved like a five-year old in the physics lab. Science!

xx

Polish Baroque: Agnieszka Osipa

Since by now it's probably become obvious that Friday is my inspiration-posting day, today I bring you Agnieszka Osipa, a Polish fashion designer who specialises in what I can only describe as... well, Witchy Baroque Meets The Bejeweled Skeletons I Wrote About The Other Day.

There isn't a lot of information available on these extraordinary pieces, so I'll just leave you with the photos. It's almost ironic, how I spent the whole Summer trying to convince myself (and everyone around me) that I was ready to put overindulgence behind me, cut off all my hair and start wearing nothing but white shirts, lean silhouettes and leather sleeves... and now Fall has arrived and I'm experiencing the pull of excess all over again.

I want to hide under layers of elaborate laces and antique-looking bling and call that a season.
You too? Let's go.
xx







[images: Agnieszka Osipa]