Lately I find I like edgy rather than pretty. Abstract and rough rather than finely detailed.
As I am currently preoccupied with anthropomorphic creatures with unpretentious appetites.
I recently had the chance to dive into an altered Barbie project. While my feminist sensibilities have a love/hate relationship with this 12" icon of plastic feminine perfection, I remain fond of her and am very interested in lifting her out of her usual in-place place and tranforming her.
That said, one of my current projects is to transform of of my many Barbies. She is one of Barbie's many incarnations--I didn't take note of the year or model... all this is quite reminiscent of the Stepford Wives, WestWorld and even more recently, The Surrogates.
I immediately removed her long rather child-knotted blond hair and snipped off her hands and feet. I almost immediately softened her existing female facial features with a layer of Sculpey... she is transforming into something Other than... she is losing the human side of herself and Becoming...
I am stuck on the idea that she should have full round hips and an ample bottom. I'd almost like to add a string of bells attached at the base of her tail... something to attract more attention to this wild creature that desires to be taken and possessed.
Unfortunately, the Barbie I chose hasn't got much limb flexibility so she looks more Grecian in stature than like an animated flashy mare...
I was immediately pleased with her ears and felt I needed some extra help in keeping them in place--hence the plaster strip that looks a lot like the headband of a bridle. I'd like to remove that... it calls to mind "mummies," but at this point I'm not certain if I can.
She is still very much in the works!
May 8, 2010
Still another incarnation. As I learn to work with polymer clay, she will continue to metamorphose... for better and sometimes for worse! The abstract horse face isn't permanent. I plan on making her a horse mask.
