Lorraine Abernethy Art Dolls

Hello I'm Lorraine Abernethy and I’ve loved fabrics and sewing all my life! I never knew how not to sew, come to think of it, I don’t think I was ever really taught in the formal sense. I have always had the ability to visualise an end result - I could ‘see’ the final garment on a person, or what the mask might look like, or the doll, though sometimes they can change just at the end! At this stage of my life, doll maker is what I am.

I am inspired by several fashion designer and couturiers, namely, Zandra Rhodes, Issey Miyake, Vivienne Westwood, Alexander McQueen and Elsa Schiaperelli. I have studied their work and love the way they have deconstructed the garment and re-worked historical facets into their collections. I try to do that with my dolls.

I like to think of theatre as I work, another world, made for the sheer enjoyment of others. Also my love of fabric inspires me - I can conjure up another doll idea simply by looking through my collection.

I have been making dolls since 1983, beginning with the reproduction of antique dolls in porcelain. I began to feel frustrated with the process involved with ceramics, and my true love of fabrics kept bringing me back to my own real medium. I started to experiment using fabrics, and making some ‘Goddesses’ - very rough and clunky now, when I look back, but slowly over the last 15 years I have evolved a style that is intuitively my own.

I have a mixed background of work experiences - psychiatric nurse, theatre usherette, hair care representative, retail fabric sales and in recent years I have taught adults in several art schools the fine skills of screen printing and fabric painting.

My husband and I have recently moved from Wellington, the capital city of New Zealand, to a very small town (pop. 1500) in the north, where the climate is warmer and we have a converted 1920’s cottage that is our studio and workshop. We look out on a beautiful range of hills and a rural panorama. Everything I need to keep producing gorgeous work!

My first doll