Thank You

The show has finally opened, all the dolls are finished and on display, and I want to thank everyone that came to the opening, both in person and on the live webcast.The opening went really well, I feel like I didn't stop talking the entire time as I tried to answer everyone's questions.I had a really good time at the show, but I'm glad it's over and I can take a bit of a break.  The weeks leading up to it are all a blur as I worked to complete everything in time.The dolls will remain on display at the Strychnin Gallery until July 4th.For those that go to the show and take pictures, we've made a flickr group where you can share them with others.  We will be uploading our shots from the opening soon, but for now it's off to Switzerland to attend Art fair Scope Basel (June 15 - 19, 2010) where one of my dolls will be on display.

Opening Night - Live Stream

For those that can't make it to Berlin tonight, the Strychnin team have rigged up a webcam and are streaming video from the gallery.*edit: Link removed as the stream has ended*

Olga Larina

Only one day left until the show!  Still a bit more work to do for the setup.

Preview of the Fragility Dolls

The dolls that will be shown at the "Fragility" show in Berlin at the Strychnin gallery have been unveiled.You can see them on the gallery's website at www.strychnin.com, clicking "for sale" and then "Fragility", or you can click right here.If you need to see more, which I anticipate many of you will, additional shots have been uploaded to flickr, with a few more going up later.Now back to setting up the show, need to get these girls ready for their big live debut.

In Berlin

Getting closer to the opening of my "Fragility" show in Berlin, and while Chad and I were walking around Berlin enjoying the heat we kept seeing these interesting posters...It's a weird feeling to see your name and your work around town, it would be strange around your own town, but even stranger in a town on the other side of the planet!More preview shots of the dolls will be posted soon, but for now I need to return to preparing for the show and fighting this jet lag.

"Fragility" Teaser

After months of insane work pace and incredible mental strain, Chad and I are finally in Berlin, resting up before the show. There is still work to do though, as I have to unpack  and set up the dolls and give some media interviews scheduled by the gallery. But it's a very pleasant and easy type of work compared to what's already been accomplished. This is what relief feels like.Above is a sneak crop of a one of a kind tattooed doll from the show. Her removable hair combs are Sterling Silver replicas of the kingfisher ornaments. You might have seen them before in my "Gemini" shot. I bought them in a second hand shop thinking they were authentic kingfisher, but they turned out to be fakes. I re-cast them in Sterling silver and painted them in with synthetic enamel in a pointalist style to mimic that rich texture and iridescence, characteristic to authentic kingfisher jewelry. I love how they turned out.Tomorrow I'll post something from the show set up.

Berlin Show

A couple quick notes on my upcoming show in Berlin, the opening will be June 11th, from 7-11pm, and both Chad and I will be in attendance.There will be a preview of the show for those interested in purchasing a doll, on June 10th, please contact the Strychnin gallery for more information regarding that.While this is the third poster featuring the deep sea diver, I assure you that there will be many other new and exciting dolls on display at the show.

Another look at Fragility

Here's another look at the Deep Sea diver helmet, including the a peek at the diver herself.More pictures will be posted soon.

Berlin Show Announcement

Displayed in the poster is one of the dolls that will be at the show, with the working title of "Deep Sea Diver".  More information regarding the show, and more pictures, will be posted in the near future.Show details:FragilityMarina Bychkovawith work by Wendy Froud and Virginie RoparsJune 11th, 2010Strychnin Gallery in Berlin.

Dragonspace show selling out fast

I made these three new nudes specifically for the Dragonspace show. As of today, I think the redhead might still be available. She is $3,950.00 CND.I finished these dolls at 9:30 in the morning and at 10:30am 2 of them were already sold. I owned them for exactly 1 hour before they went away to live their own lives. My pretty Scheherezade for was sold too for $21,000.00 CNDThese nude girls feature a new, experimental magnetic wig system. A small magnet is discreetly embedded into or onto  their heads and a corresponding one into the wig cap. You can pull the wig off with a bit of effort, but it snaps back in place when the wig is on. I love it- no more slipping and sliding of the wig. The magnet can support quite a bit of weight and will stay in place until you pull it off. Problem solved. From now on, every doll will come with a magnetic wig.I also brought one of he first Resin prototypes to Dragonspace to show. It's Clymenestra, sleeping in a giant shell like a little mermaid. If you want to touch her and see and feel how well she is made, just ask the staff and they will take her out of the cabinet for you to look at. But she is not for sale yet.Chad and I slept for almost 18 hours after we pulled a 27 hour long work day to prepare and setup the show at Dragonspace. We stuck around in the morning for almost three hours, chatting with clients who showed up to see the show and meet the new dolls. It was a lot of fun, but I was so exhausted, hungry and dehydrated, that I feared fainting right in the middle of the conversation.  But I felt such a tremendous relief of deadline completion, that I fell asleep the minute I got in the car. It was only a 5 minute ride home, but it felt like I slept for week. We were so tired, that after we parked outside of our building, we napped in the car for nearly 20 minutes, unable to get out and walk to our front door. It was nice- I felt the sun and the warm, ocean breeze on my face.Today I've got a backlog of administrative work to sort out and some magazine interviews to deal with.There are still two dolls remain available at Dragonspace: The nude and tattooed Vessel, but I dont' know for how much longer. Their phone number is +604 689 8931 Call to inquire.I want to thank all those who came yesterday, both local and those who came from afar  to see  the show. It was a pleasure to meet you.MarinaATTENTION CLIENTS INTERESTED IN THE READHEAD- Sorry, but she was just sold too. Only Vessel remains.

Dragonspace Show

The Dragonspace show is just a couple days away (opening on Saturday February 6th at Dragonspace on Granville Island in Vancouver), and I'm putting all the final details together.  The venue isn't a traditional gallery, not in the sense that it shows non-tradtional art, but in that it isn't a gallery at all.  As stated previously it's primarily a retail space, and as such there isn't room for any kind of an opening gala.Besides, I not the biggest socialite but more of a one on one person. I get so uncomfortable at show openings that I tend to sneak away quietly and hide from the crowd. Or, develop a split personality disorder and begin to act weird around people-not like myself. During the last show opening I attended, I spent one and a half hours hiding in a bathroom stall. Just sitting there and thinking through a new thigh joint mechanism.For those that are planning to come see the dolls and wish to meet up for tea or lunch. I will be available to meet on the island.  Granville Island is full of great places to sit with a coffee and talk, so send me an email at inquiries@enchanteddoll.com with "Dragonspace" somewhere in the subject and we'll set something up.  If possible we can try and orchestrate something where a handful of us get together.I'm working on a list of dolls that will be available for sale. It's not a long list. Sorry. I did what I could given the time frame.Dragonspace's address:

6-1551 Johnston Street

Vancouver, BC V6H 3R9, Canada

(604) 689-8931

View Larger Map(for anyone curious, In the photo I'm wearing a "Teddybear loves Teddyboy" T-shirt from Threadless.com)

Show at Dragonspace in Vancouver 2010

The Winter Olympic Games are coming to Vancouver on February 12th,2010 and I will be displaying my personal collection of Enchanted Dolls in a local gallery/shop of magical and mythological creatures, called Dragonspace. The show opens on February 6th and runs until March 6th, 2010.Dragonspace is located on Granville Island, in the heart of the beautiful Vancouver city. Historically, this place used to be an industrial area, but over the years it has transformed into an arts and crafts and a cultural heritage site. The tiny island is a home of little various galleries and local artisan studios, as well as gourmet markets, coffee shops, bakeries, restaurants, performance centres and live street performances.The whole neighbourhood has a very nostalgic and artsy feel to it with its brick paths, defunct rail tracks, wooden docks, Aquabus ferry shuttles to nearby downtown and old industrial warehouses converted into galleries and trendy shops. Not to mention million dollar views onto the glassy down town Vancouver. On warm summer days, Chad and I hop on our bikes and ride to Granville Island market for breakfast. It's also very common to have your breakfast stolen by the seagulls if you sit outside.This one of our most popular tourist attractions. Showing in this location has a sentimental significance to me because Emily Carr University of Art and Design is located here too, just down the street from Dragonspace, and that's where I spent five years of my life getting an art education.So, if you're local to the West Coast, come down and see Enchanted Doll at Dragonspace, on Ganville Island as well as experience some Olympic city. The whole world will be coming here in a couple of weeks! I will have some nudes available for sale and a couple of costumed dolls. The rest will be Not For Sale work from my personal collection. Please stand by for more purchasing details as well as which dolls will be available and the pricing.Look forward to a BIG announcement on Tuesday, February 2nd. Also, you've got to see this amazing time lapse video of Vancouver. I can't believe I live here! Seriously, all the places they show in the video are from my neighborhood and are intimately familiar to me from my daily routines. My very building is even in a few frames.Photo of Vancouver isn't related to the timelapse video, but is by Martin Kryzwinski.

Berlin Show summer 2009

I almost forgot:I have two dolls in a group show 'Mid Summers Night Madness', at Strychnin gallery in Berlin this summer. The show opened last Friday, but it will be on for a few weeks and those of you who live in Germany can go and see Shapeshifter and Aphrodite in person.Thank you Strychnin. Elizabeth- you're awesome.

Long time+no post = New dolls.

It's been a long time since my last post. Here is the scoop on what I've been up to between now and then.The show opeing was a great experience, but a very intense one too. I got to meet some of you guys, which was awesome, but I came home exhauseted and drained of creative juices. I had planned to take it easy after the show opened and not do any allnighters, tight deadlines or extreme multi-tasking for a while. May and June were supposed to be a chilled out months in celebration of a major carreer milestone. They are not turning out to be very relaxing so far because I was invited to take part in three shows, in Bolzano Italy, St. Petersburg Russia, and Berlin Germany.  I have been working to create new pieces for these shows, all while doing orders for nude dolls.  Sure all the work can be stressful at times, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't enjoying every twist and turn along the way.The doll shown in the photo above is a new tattooed doll that will be on display at the KunStart Art Fair in Bolzano Italy, from 21-24 of May.The show in St. Petersburg show takes place June 11-14.Also, there is a little video of me setting up The Bride for the Milwaukee show.  I was working right up until the last minute fixing some final details, and Chad caught me doing some "Clutch Sewing" with my limited supply of thread.  Expect some more "behind the scenes" videos in the future.

Cover of Epsilon

Epsilon Magazine has a 9 page article on Enchanted Doll, but I was surprised to find out that Hathar has made her way onto the cover!  The magazine is based out of Greece, so if you are in the area I suggest you go pick it up!  (Thanks to n66x for sending me this picture)There was also an online magazine that has a piece on Enchanted Doll, called My Muse.  It's in Italian, but it also includes a few images of Mame's Emerald doll, it was nice to see new shots of her.Also, reminder that my show opens this Wednesday, April 8th at the Villa Terrace in Milwaukee.  It goes until June 7th, but I'll be there on the 8th to kick things off, so come out if you can.

New projects for the show.

These are teasers of 4 new dolls which will be shown along with the rest of my collection at the Villa Terrace Museum of decorative art in Milwaukee from April through to June 2009.

Sacrificial

Upcoming Show

From Villa Terrace's website:

Marina Bychkova:Enchanted Doll April 8 - June 7, 2009

Opening Reception: Wednesday, April 8, 5:30 - 8:30 p.m.With Artist's Talk with Marina Bychkova

Location

2220 N. Terrace AvenueMilwaukee, WI  53202(414) 271-3656

The show is just around the corner and although I'm extremely busy, I'm really excited about it.  On the forum there's talk about some people making a trip to Milwaukee for the opening reception and I'm looking forward to meeting those of you that do.  I'm flying in to setup the show and staying for the opening, but will be heading back home the very next day to return to work.  Work, work, work.

As for the dolls on display, many of them will be part of a personal collection or are privately owned, but there will be some that will be available for sale.  The details regarding the dolls available for purchase will be revealed closer to the show's opening.