Anxiety imprisoned - real emotions locked in inanimate bodies.

Anxiety imprisoned - an imperfect translation from the Polish language, because in original - Nie(s)pokój uwięziony - it's a kind of wordplay, impossible to translate. This is the title of an amazing exhibition that I saw recently in Krakow.

Dolls. What is your first thought when you hear this word?

Barbie, baby doll, sexy doll... playthings.

The dolls that I saw at the exhibition are completely different.

They are not alive, but at the same time, they are not dead. They are enlivened by emotions.

The author of the exhibition, Monika (known in the collector's world as Milena), says that people seeing her dolls experience real emotions. In real life and relationships, we often don't allow ourselves to do this, we hide our emotions, feel ashamed or afraid of them. Paradoxically, Monika's dolls can evoke stronger reactions than we experience usually. Isn't it different with movies, books, or photos? Isn't it easier to weep for a movie character than for your own life?

This is the second exhibition of Monika's dolls that I have seen. After the first one, over a year ago, I helped to close the exhibition and pack the dolls - it's amazing how heavy they are and how much their "corpses" (though hard and cold) are similar to a human body.

These are the original BJD (ball-jointed-dolls), collectible dolls made with attention to detail. Individual parts of their "body" are cast from high-quality resin and connected by round joints. Thanks to this, the dolls can be posed almost without limits.

Creating such a doll is a long and expensive process. The individual parts are carved by artists and then cast - it takes months, even years. Some collectors buy ready-made dolls, but most often (like Monika), they complete them piece by piece.

Elements such as head, eyes, torso, hands, feet are made by various artists. Make-up, manicure, hair, clothes, jewelry, props - these are other subcontractors. Sometimes the collectors deal with the different stages of creation themselves.

It's Monika decides who her doll will become, what story she will tell us.

It's the particles of her soul that we see in these dolls. She connects cold, plastic parts and brings them to life.

It's amazing but looking at these dolls is like looking at yourself in a mirror and discover deeply hidden emotions.

There were also a lot of photos taken by Monika at the exhibition. They tell the true stories. Watching them you can see the real enormity of work and commitment. Set design, make-up, arrangement, props - a lot of creative work.

It's hard to believe that these are just dolls.

I highly recommend seeing Monika's photos (links below), they are amazing! You will find dark, Victorian tales in them.
You will also find many emotions that you may not want to confront.

Or you will find nothing. Because it is art.

Dolls Of Milena on Instagram
Dolls Of Milena on Flickr

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^@astinmin