Barbie was the first toy that I received. She used to be someone every girl wanted to be, head to toe she was perfect; her life, her face and her body. An ideal I aspired to. I was inspired by the controversy behind this perfection, touching on cultural differences, sizeism and female stereotypes. Ruth Handler, Barbies creator, explained her rationale was to make girls feel like they could be anything they wanted to be through one doll, representing many different careers which were male dominated at the time. I wanted to add the contrast of imperfection to my collection, inspired by sculpture artist Duane Hanson, whose work reflects the reality of the “American dream” and the irony surrounding that ideal.
Juxtaposing the contrast of Barbies conceived perfection with the reality of the life in the American dream and how people feel under guise of this concept. Through playing with size and portion but maintaining Barbies aesthetic perception, with nuances of the 1990’s and the various eras Barbie has transitioned through, I want my collection to prompt people to feel that anything is possible. In the words of Ruth Handler, “You can be anything you want”.
