I made these assemblage dolls based on found wooden tassel cups which I imagined as heads with berets. To match the Parisian flair of the heads I collaged scraps from torn book pages of a French novel onto the upper bodies. “Le Desert d’Amour” is a story of love, desire, despair, hope, and disappointment – all the emotions. I pasted them on, so that these feelings can be visible and worn like a blouse. The hats are crowned with fancy vintage buttons (from my grandmother’s tin) because I want the figures to appear upright and standing tall and to emphasize their dignity no matter what. Hearts in hands are to show their vulnerability. I added some French love talk onto the platforms, at the lowest point of the assemblages, just as if her words of love and desire are not reaching the One, thus have to fall onto the ground. Finally, I gave each figure a vintage dog figurine as a companion.

Mixed media assemblages: found wooden craft parts, clay, acrylics, vintage pastry molds, vintage wooden coasters, vintage skeleton keys, book pages from an old French novel, magazine clippings, vintage buttons, metal hardware, wire. Pieces measure 4.5” x 6” x 4”