What is an art doll? by Linda Ehrenfried According to Wikipedia.com "Art dolls are dolls created by artists and intended as expressive and unique art objects rather
than children's toys. Art dolls made by professional artists may be considered fine art. Made using a wide variety of
styles and media, some are abstract or tribal, while others are incredibly realistic. They range from dolls with pre-manufactured
parts to being wholly fabricated by the artist or sculptor. The term "art dolls" usually refers to human-like dolls,
but not always. Art dolls can depict animals, mythical creatures, or abstract beings". There has been alot of debate
over what exactly an art doll is and what qualities they should have. Many articles have been written and many experts opinions
gathered. The main issues seems to be what qualifies as an art doll and should there be a division between dolls which
are in appearance toys designed to be played with, figurative sculpture which would be any solid non posable sculpture,
and jointed sculptures like BJD and sculpture designed with bodies made to be posed. I myself was once told that art
dolls are a wonderful craft/hobby collectible but that they are not fine art. That persons opinion. I suppose
the big issue is the word DOLL itself. It is to ambiguous. It denotes a play thing in most peoples minds. But figurative art
encompasses far more then just art dolls. Bronze statues, Base relief, Stone and wood sculpture including abstract art
all fall into this broad catagory of fine art sculpture. So perhaps ART DOLL does best describe this art form. So if
the sculpture has cloth dress and hair is it a doll? If the dress, hair and body are all clay is it a statue? Does size
matter? Must it be large and intricate to be art or can the tiniest minature crafted by skillful hands and fashioned as a
figure in clay also be concidered art. Are the answers to these questions even important or should it just as simple
as," I may not know art, but I know what I like." I will be posting these questions to many of you over the
next few months and continuing this article in the sites blog. There is a fabulous article by Stephanie Finnegan in
the December 2010 issue of Dolls Magazine. In it a series of artists and experts in the art doll world discuss what
is and isn't Doll Art. She mentions the very same saying I mentioned before. " I may not know art, but
I know what I like" Her article discusses how Art in general is very subjective. She also mentions the fact
that you can show a painting to a hundred people and get potentially 100 different reactions and art dolls are the same. So
many things are left to interpretation and those impressions may or may not match the artists original idea.
Her article is very informative and if you can get a copy very much worth the effort. I will see about getting permission
to post a snap shot of the pages. Her article also touches on an issue that I myself had dealt with when
I attempted to join a local artists group. Many artists do not concider art dolls to be art. The group of "fine
artists" I attempted to join concidered my work to be more novelty and collectible then fine art. I directed them
to my website. I was informed yet again that the group was comprised of serious fine artists and that my work was more of
a craft then art. I was truly shocked and gave the woman a quick education on art dolls or Doll Art as it were.
She said perhaps she had judged to quickly and invited me to join the group. I declined at least for the moment. Apparantly
they were still to set in their ways to appreciate an art doll artist like myself. But it illustrated to me that
I needed to do something to help the art doll community. So I started building this site. In setting
up this site the issue of what is an art doll and what is not has come up a thousand times. Even within the art doll community
there is this division line drawn between Realistic and non realistic, mixed media, sculptural art dolls, figurative sculpture
and half dozen more. It seems that we want to separate even ourselves. I find artistic merit in every artists work I
see. A great artists in not born that way. It is developed over time. Pop culture, impressionism, even performance art movements
are less devided over what qualifies as art in their media. I believe this confusing division is what gave birth to mixed
media art. Why choose one or the other and limit yourself as an artist when you can be all things and create anything? Makes
perfect sence when you think about it. Most artists begin making art dolls with little knowledge of how
to do it. But their desire to create and their personal taste steers them towards a particular medium. Some artists start
off with a natural talent and can create anything they can imagine right out of the gate. Others will find they have
to spend years practicing before they achieve the level of skill to create works that they themselves admire. I
myself feel like I will never know enough about this art form. There are so many avenues I have yet to explore. So many different
materials to experiment with and subjects galore to keep me busy learning for many many years to come. Art dolls can be paper,
wood, Clay or a multitude of mixed medias. I have seen sculptural art that runs from thick muscular monster to brave handsome
realistic heros and lovely cartoonish damsels all the way to tiny minature babies and fairies and everywhere in between.
Art dolls have one main thing in common that stands out. They are not toys. Dolls are toys; art dolls are art. What ever
material they are made of they are art first and art is meant to be enjoyed visually not handled or played with. Even in the
case of Ball joint dolls in porcelain and other materials. They are made to be posed not played with. For some collectors
of art dolls they have a particular style or genre that they collect exclusively, while others enjoy a broad range of works
from many different artists with completely different styles. Art and why we connect with it is as personal as selecting a
mate. You really can not predict love. When it happens you just know it. For me I love art dolls the way some people love
a sports teams. I would rather spend all day looking at page after page of art dolls in magazines rather than watch
a World Series or Super Bowl. Please feel free to tell me what it is about art dolls that you love and I will post your
responses here on the site. email me at Linda@charmcityoriginals.com
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