Dolls

Creating dolls within an art therapy setting can be very rewarding. Often dolls may have wishes written down and hidden inside, while others have secrets wished to stay contained. For some clients the final product might be an important part of a healing process, while others spend time wrapping their doll with wool or yarn, which will serve as a metaphoric attachment or bonding experience.
While the creation of a doll can be fun or a healing process, for some people it can be quite difficult. The doll can hold emotion and manifested power one might not expect. It is because the doll is personified that it becomes a talisman for something, wanted or unwanted.

One of the reasons why art therapy is so powerful, is that the art serves as a record of a therapy session. If that artwork is attached to a powerful memory or experience, sometimes it can be hard to look at or even re-traumatize a client. The therapist can suggest resolution for difficult imagery, through a conversation with the piece, the destruction or even protection of it depending on the needs of that client.

The dolls shown in this post have been made by myself, throughout my time as an art therapy student.

The first one I made is the one with the purple face, in a wedding gown. I created her a few months after I was married (to the love of my life) and I was completely over-the-top-in-the-clouds-still-thinking about-my-wedding-day in love. (which two years later, I still am)
She has marbles in her hands and feet to give her weight, and is wrapped with purple yarn. Her head is an amethyst, which came from a treasure box that my husband has been collecting trinkets since he was a little boy. He offered this treasure box to me so I could choose something special for my doll. (which I thought was so special considering this doll serves as a symbol of my bride-self)

The second doll I made is the one with the turquoise hair and the silver dress. I created her, this past May. She represents my maturation. She still offers a gift of flowers, but she has a distinguished face. She is coming into her own. She is wrapped in blue yarn and her face is made from a broken seashell. She wears a glittery dress and has sparkly shoes, because well...i like shiny things.

The third doll, un-like the others, is not a representation of myself, but a hypothetical client. I created her for a project I was doing in my ethics class this past June. I was to create something representational of how I would feel if I had a child client who was being abused by her father. She represents my yearning to hold and protect the child-like whimsy of a doll. She is made out of tin-foil and palm leaves. Her hair is moss, and she has been painted blue and green.

In the group of dolls, you may notice there are two more that I have not spoken about. That is because they are gifts. When I moved away, two of my dear friends who are also studying art therapy created them for me as a parting gift. They are very representational of those people (at least for me) and I feel so blessed that they came with me on my move. They are tokens of our friendship, and remind me those two people are still out there and care about me.

well that's all I have to say about dolls for now, I will update with more as I create them.( which i will because it is one of my favourite things to do)

Blessings,

Merrick.