The Dolls Of Lena And Katya Popova

The profile for Lena and Katya reads, in part, thus:

Lena & Katsya Popova, beautiful sisters, are new wave in Russian doll scene. Their early creations were proportional figures as shown this album, but their recent series as ‘Fashion MOON’ and ‘SKIN’ are quite unique and aggressive in deformed body.

My ignorance of a “Russian doll scene” should come as no surprise. That is, while I am aware of Russian dolls in the form of matryoshkas, I was unaware that there was a scene. Of course, this may have more to do with the connotations that I attach to the word “scene”, meaning that “Russian doll scene” makes me think of imposing, babushka-wearing Barbies looking disinterested at a trendy dance party. This would be wrong.

Looking beyond my own linguistic hang-ups we have the sisters’s actual work, and I can’t help but be drawn to it. The more traditional lamps are beautiful, their voluminous dresses lit up from within, belying their spindly frames topped by ivory faces. However, SKIN is a completely different animal all together. These are stunning, foregoing the traditional doll trimmings in favor of displaying fully that alien body-type, elongated just beyond the point of believability, clad in Westernized tribal chic.

It’s some impressive work, retaining the cuteness of a child’s toy while simultaneously functioning as modern sculpture. Plus, I can easily imagine them looking bored while listening to, say, Lady Gaga.

11 Responses to “The Dolls Of Lena And Katya Popova”

  1. Nadya Says:

    Oh my god… these are GORGEOUS. This one just kills me:

    I LOVE the body proportions on these! HOT! They remind me of Peter Chung characters.

    They don’t appear to have a proper website, but I found some more of their dolls here:

    http://www.nonc.jp/exhibits/page12/page12.html

    Their house really reminds me of my old house in Russia, it’s eerie.

    Thank you for sharing these, Ross!

  2. Ashbet Says:

    In terms of the Russian doll scene — are you guys familiar with Marina Bychkova’s work?

    http://www.enchanteddoll.com/

    And, yes — I am LOVING these. Wow!

    *entranced*

  3. Mer Says:

    Ashbet, funny you should mention Marina. You’re going to want to pick up a copy of Issue #3, for sure. ;)

  4. tyhiliet Says:

    Im in love

  5. Andy Says:

    That hyena wrangler is amazing, dunno if I want to fall in love or just get out of the way^^

  6. one little simitopian Says:

    Sigh! Adding one of these to my forever growing wishlist…

  7. Erin Says:

    These are absolutely stunning! Too bad they don’t seem to be for retail, as far as I can gather at least.

    Owning one of these, along with a Scott Radke scuplture would really make my life complete. Though if nothing else, just looking is an amazing treat as well.

  8. BlueAnchorNatasha Says:

    Incredible, absolutely incredible. It always amazes me to see the new creative ways that humans push themselves. I think words fail me beyond what adjectives I, and others, have already used.

  9. Emera Says:

    Sooo beautiful! I love the incredible elegance of the first posted here. Well, they’re all elegant, but that photograph in particularly really captured the grace and cleanness of their look.

  10. Vivacious G Says:

    Total love.

  11. annalisa v Says:

    semplicemente…meravigliose!