The Saga Continues...

Before I start writing about the pictures I've just posted, I want to thank everyone who came to the Doll Project / You Are Beautiful show at Flourish Studios last night. It was one of the best attended (not quite) solo shows I've done in a while, and it really means a lot to me to know that there are people who are interested in seeing my work and hearing what I have to say. Your support has been the impetus to continue my work on this project, which is about 2/3 of the way complete at this point.

Here are two photos that weren't ready when I hung the others last week. I wanted to share them now. They are photos of Mia and the Anas in the present day. After showing how their predecessors were influenced by the media of their eras, I wanted to satirize the media that girls view today.

The book says "don't eat." How can Mia enjoy her S'mores now?

The exaggerated image on the television is a photo of some actual fashion dolls that were produced a few years ago.

Manufactured by MGA, the producers of Bratz dolls, the Hi Glamm girls are basically an updated version of the Leggy dolls Hasbro made from 1971 - 1973.  Freakishly proportioned with legs that go on for miles, these dolls are like a Photoshop disaster rendered in three dimensions.  (I have the three on the right, by the way.)  They are symbolic of the unrealistic standards of beauty so prevalent in ads today thanks to plastic surgery and Photoshop.

The next intrusion upon the innocence of little girlhood comes from an ad for a new show that will feature a celebrity who went "from webcam hottie to reality tv superstar."  Who needs talent, integrity, or intelligence when you can just make a spectacle of yourself for cameras, right?

 

Her near-nudity is in stark contrast to the princesses and ponies the girls were playing with.

I also did a whole photo shoot this morning of a character I ended up not using.  I thought of showing the girls watching music videos, but the pictures I took don't read well at the size of the Barbie TV screen.  But since I worked so hard, I'll let you see one of them.

And speaking of new photos, the new clothes I ordered for the doll project just arrived yesterday.  I will be using them in some new photos I've been planning to take.

I was inspired by the You Are Beautiful installation to create a final poster that will feature dolls in this shirt:

As I complete more pictures for this series, I will post them on my blog. Subscribe, follow, or "Like" my page to get the latest updates.