Katharine T. Jacobs

The doll has historically been used as a method to comfort, heal and bring joy. When my stepdaughter was young, she loved mermaids but there were very few mermaid dolls in stores. I created them for her, with personally requested hair and skin colors so that she could closely identify with her new friends, and then I embroidered her own drawings onto their tails to make them more personal and special. I loved the act of making these dolls; it brought me a joy that was lacking in my Fine Art practice as a photographer. 

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Years later, life as I knew it dissolved. My father passed away, I was diagnosed with Multiple Sclerosis, my marriage ended, and I was a new single mother to my daughter. I sought salvation with family in my home state and went from living with my stepdaughter to only being able to visit a few times a year. My life was completely torn apart by abuse, addiction and illness. I made art to heal as I learned how to live with my disability. 

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I returned to the doll. Through research of the psychological correlation between trauma and illness as well as the historical practice of doll making intended to transfer pain and manifest healing in many cultures, I was inspired to create these vessels for my own healing process. As a mother I felt supported by feminist theory and concepts of “women’s work”, gender roles and Craft. These solidified my choice of the doll rather than a more formal sculptural approach. 

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I was able to compartmentalize my experiences that had previously overwhelmed me into tidy, healing, mixed media vessels. I use humor and oddity to touch on these human experiences in hopes that the viewer can have a similar weight lifted via their connection to a doll.