Charla Khanna Native American Doll with Dimples

Description: Charla Khanna (American, 1944- ) Doll with Dimples sculpted papier-mâché, hands and feet; horse hair, textile dress, painted features, signed on back of head This doll is the first on the left side in group collection photograph. measures approximately: 25" H x 10 1/2" W x 3 3/8" D Please note that shipping charges are inclusive of insurance, payment processing (if paying by check or cash, processing fee will be refunded) and carrier fees. If local pickup is selected and if applicable, payment processing fee will still be assessed and due. About Charla Khanna The dolls of Charla Khanna hang on the wall as works of textile art: “These are not dolls or little people,” Khanna says, explaining that the dolls are “manifestations of the human spirit, of the varied aspects of the human psyche.” They are “expressions of states of being,” she adds. Based in the artistic community of Taos, New Mexico, Khanna’s creations seem to reference the rich American Indian and Mexican heritage on her doorstep, alongside more far flung influences such as Asian and Indian motifs. But it is difficult to pinpoint the precise origins of any of these dolls. Each wears oversized feet and a tuft of horsehair atop their heads, but it is the richly decorated surfaces of their garments, as varied as their features are similar, that bring these dolls to life. The results command a language of their own, one that borrows from both near and far, the exotic and the familiar. Khanna “always knew” she wanted to be an artist and has made dolls since an early age. In college she studied printmaking. But her doll making remained an aside until, separated from her husband and a young daughter to raise, she began to sell both her prints and her dolls. She quickly found the dolls to be her best seller. Heads, hands and feet are made from papier-mâché, coated in modelling paste, layers of gesso and an oil glaze. Watercolour is used for the features, followed with a coat of varnish. Hands, heads and feet are produced in batches during three weeks sessions of intensive production. Khanna then allows time to “live with the heads” in her studio, until she feels a head “suggests a direction for what the piece is going to be about.” The first to admit that she cannot visualize these things in advance, she explains that embarking on each project and seeing it through to completion is her only way of knowing what each doll will be like. “I start with very vague notions,” she admits. “ I don’t draw things out ahead of time. I haven’t a clue. It is working it out that makes this interesting to do. excerpted from Craft Arts International (issue 69, 2007: 114-115)

Price: 2000 USD

Location: Chicago, Illinois

End Time: 2025-01-20T01:13:39.000Z

Shipping Cost: N/A USD