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Doll Haus: The Modern Matryoshka

MARCH 30, 2011
Nick Rothweiler at Rothick Art Haus invited me to participate in an group show called Doll Haus: The Modern Matryoshka.  I thought this was an interesting idea and happily agreed to it.  All the artists were sent blank Babushka Nesting Dolls to paint whatever we wanted on them.

I thought it would be interesting to paint these in part because its something different that I've never tried before but also, with grand-parents coming from the Ukraine and being brought up in that culture at a very young age, I felt the need to learn about the nesting dolls.  Sort of 'go back to my roots' in a way.  I've seen some incredibly intricate and beautiful traditional dolls but never really thought about making one.  There was a brief moment looking into Ukrainian Egg Painting (Pysanky) but life got in the way but scouring the internet was re-inspiring.  It really was a blast to make art this way and put my work in a different context!

This set is called "Collecting Sub-Atomic Diamond Core Particles".  Acrylic, Silver Leaf, Ink on wood.

Opening Reception is April 9, 2011 - 7PM

Rothick Art Haus
170 S. Harbor Blvd.
Anaheim, CA 92805

Inquiries: 714-829-8283

Process photos. Apologies for the red spots in the middle of these photos. Seems my cell phone camera is starting to burn out.
It is pretty tough painting on such an odd surface.  In the lower left picture, you can see that I was working with an old sock to cushion the doll and a book, sometimes two, 'nesting' the doll so I had some surface to put my hand on for steady it.

This was also my first time working with Silver Leaf and boy THAt was a mess!  If you've never worked with it before, some recommendations...don't breathe too heavily when the sheets of silver or gold are out - they are so thin and delicate, sheets flew off my desk just by exhaling too heavily....have brushes you don't mind throwing away....and just accept silver/gold leaf particles are going to end up EVERYWHERE.

In the end, though, I had a great time making these.  Lots of discoveries.
© 2024 Scott Bakal