Rant!
Women are not State Property Incubators! The true test of freedom and liberty is allowing any person, regardless of their biological function or gender, to choose their own fate.
Read MoreMy friends!
I am shocked and appalled to learn that ebay had just removed my Daphne auction listing (#331084334645) only a few hours before the end, because my doll displays accurate female anatomy.
Ebay says that my doll is a sex doll, and it can not be listed in neither the art category, nor the doll category, and not even in the art-doll category. I will either have to remove any unclothed pictures of Daphne to re-list her as art doll, or list it as a sex toy. And this is despite the fact that there are currently dozens of art dolls listings on ebay showing full frontal nudity in the doll category. I have no idea why Enchanted Doll was targeted as being inappropriate, while other nude dolls are totally acceptable. What is wrong with Enchanted Doll?
I'm disgusted and exasperated to tears by this institutionalized hatred towards female body. Why is ebay perpetuating this attitude towards women? Why are even naked dolls considered too vile and offensive for our eyes?!! Why is the world forcing me to feel so dirty and ashamed of myself? Why is it forcing our daughters to grow up feeling ashamed of themselves, instead of feeling proud? I only have questions, and no answers.
I'm trying to figure out what to do about Daphne auction as quickly as I can. In the meantime you could try calling ebay to convince them to resume the listing. Stay tuned for urgent updates.
***UPDATE:
Daphne has been relisted here: http://www.ebay.com/itm/An-Enchanted-Doll-by-Marina-Bychkova-Costumed-amp-Engraved-OOAK-Porcelain-BJD-/331086942934?&_trksid=p2056016.l4276 We tried to list Daphne in the same state as when it was deleted by ebay. The auction is a "1-day" auction so it will end tomorrow, and the start price is what the highest bid was at the time of removal. Sorry for the inconvenience.
Well, I have some news about Enchanted Doll. It was supposed to be a great news which I was really looking forward to sharing and celebrating, but it has just turned sour for me.For a few months now I've been eagerly anticipating the August 2010 issue of the UK-based, avantgarde fashion magazine LOVE, because it was supposed to feature an Enchanted Doll modeling a dress by Louis Vuitton. This Enchanted Doll's name is Buela and she is in private collection. I was not only excited about Enchanted Doll being the face of Louis Vuitton, but also about it being shot by Mert and Marcus, which is amazing. But my joy has turned to disbelief and disappointment when the issue came out and I discovered that the magazine has not credited me for my work.Enchanted Doll brand is not mentioned in the feature, as if the creator of the doll is not important. They've taken my doll's identity away from her.
Imagine if a magazine photographed Barbie in a designer dress for commercial use in mass media, slapped a different name on her, such as I donno, Katie or Buela or whatever, and then left out the fact that this doll is Barbie by Mattel. How do you think Mattel would react to their product being used this way?I am upset and rather offended by this turn of events. The photograph was not taken by me and the doll is no longer in my possession, but she is still my intellectual property. I don't know how such a reputable magazine could do something like this and I intend to find out what happened. It might be just a very unfortunate mistake, but the damage is done.So, there you go. Enchatned Doll or possibly some other doll is modeling a Louis Vuitton dress for LOVE magazine.Hurray?
People often ask me for the sources of my inspiration. It's a standard and seemingly straightforward question for an artist to encounter on regular basis; just list the artists you admire, right, nothing more to it?It's not as easy to answer as it seems. In fact, I've began to find it very annoying lately. I always hesitate with my response to this most predictable of questions because I find inspiration everywhere and it's very difficult to separate your entire life into neat little compartments of profoundness and non-importance. The truth is that every single second of my life, every single object I've seen, every life encounter I've had and every interaction I've experienced, are continuous constructive forces of my inspiration. Everything I see is internalized and processed into information that is expressed through my work. Yes, sure, like every other creative individual art, books, music, fashion, design and other artists inspire me a lot. But so do kitchen forks and my hair brush. Garbage trucks can be very inspiring under the right circumstances. And don't get me started on tin foil- that stuff is awesome!Perhaps it's completely unreasonable of me to be annoyed at this question. I keep telling myself that I should be flattered that some people want to know what makes me tick. It is after all an excellent ego massage. It's just, I can't seem to help but find it very futile. Yes, on one hand I know exactly the type of art I love and can give you 50 artists I worship off the top of my head, but does a short list of a few preferred famous names, books and art movements really tell one anything significant about another person? It says almost nothing, because there are thousands of other people with the same short list as you. It's our unique lives and deeply individual experiences which we live through every day, that make up our inspiration and our influences. But perhaps I'm wrong .....?This is why I find the question about my inspirations very unsettling and difficult to answer. How far do I go? Where do I stop? Good thing magazine interviews have a word limit.Also, this is why I'm going to create a new section on my website where I try to identify as many separate and important inspiration sources which influence and shape my world and my work. A map of self.I'll also do a weekly blog entry about the inspiration of the week. Perhaps some obvious patterns will emerge.About the picture. It was taken for fun. Prosthetic leg was attached to this doll temporarily, while I was evaluating the project goals. I'm still evaluating them.
I found these pictures of Emerald on my laptop several days ago. They've been on my computer since November last year and I completely forgot about them because they were taken 20 minutes before we ran out of the house to catch our plane to Paris. It was a good find. See more pictures of her in Nude galleries. I hate to start a post off with a negative note, but May has been a rather ulucky and a challenging month for me and I can't wait for it to end already and bring me a change of fortunes.I've been experiencing a lot of casting problems with my tinted porcelain slip while being unable to order any more due to manufacturer's backlog. Their customer service has been getting worse by the month and I have almost no patience left. I'm running dangerously low even on white slip and hope every day that I'll be able to get some more before I go into my next phase of orders in July. It's a real possibility that I may have to wait until Christmas, seeing how things are going so far. The scary part is that I only have enough slip left for maybe 10 dolls and then I'm in trouble. Just thinking about not having any porcelain for up to 6 months gives me anxiety attacks.The other unfortunate event that I've been dealing with is the last minute cancellation of my long awaited St. Petersburg trip/show. I was really looking forward to it and Chad and I have already got our tickets and had everything arranged, when I was refused Russian visa on the grounds of being a Russian. It's a long and frustrating story. Chad got a visa no problem though. Oh well, next year. I'm almost over it.And now I'm sick and falling behind schedule.Well, I guess that's enought ranting for now. Chad and I finally got a storage locker in our building today, which will give us more space to keep my work supplies. That was the best thing that happened this month. That, and another magazine cover feature for Enchanted Doll. I suppose things aren't so bad.
I just wanted to mention that i'm still working on that best doll/worst doll list. I'm just so swamped with work that i'm still in research and writing phase on that report. And now i'm also sick on top of everything and had to spend the entire day in bed yesterday.I'll be posting teaser images of the new 3 dolls in my costumed dolls gallery by tomorrow.
I think Blythe dolls will go on the top of my "Worst Dolls Ever Made" list. I hate them. I don't see what the big deal is. I find them rather ugly and disproportionate.I invite Blythe lovers to sell me on these dolls. What is there to love about them?
I was thinking that i will compile a list of the best and the worst 5 dolls on the world doll market right now. Perhaps I will have to make it 10. I'll see. I think i'll also rate them on the scale of 10 for their facial appearance, anatomical beauty, articulating, quality and originality. I can call several off the top of my head, but will need a few days to compile the final winners and losers (on my scale). Feel free to put forward candidates for either list. What you like and what you hate. I'll be happy to consider them.
