The dolls are made from 100% wool roving using a technique called needle felting. You begin with a ball of fluffy wool then jab a felting needle into the wool thousands of times until it firms up and shapes into the object you are forming. In my case, a head, body and arms!. The eyes are polyglass and acrylic painted and customers can choose either glass eyes or acrylic eyes. The clothes are all hand made and hand sewn. Clay pet shoes and accessories are made from polymer clay and paper clay and are all hand sculpted and hand painted.
Each doll is a true One Of A Kind. Some people request a “similar” doll but please be aware that no two dolls will be identical.
Kylie’s work has been shown in local and international Galleries – Dollirium Art doll emporium, ArtBoy Gallery in Prahran, MONA gallery shop in Tasmania, Arch Enemy arts in Philadelphia, Cactus Gallery LA, The Old Jaffa Museum Israel, The good goat gallery, Ohio, Weswal Gallery, Penumbra Gallery, Portugal and beautiful bizarre magazines curated show at Modern Eden Gallery, San Francisco! Dolldrums was also published in ADQ magazine as a featured artist, Damaged magazine, Doll collector, beautiful bizarre magazine feature on website and Mornington Life magazines.
Bio.
My name is Kylie Dexter, I am internationally exhibited self-taught felt sculpture artist from Melbourne Australia and former Deputy Editor and writer of Beautiful Bizarre Magazine. When I first started making these dolls I wanted to give life to a world that existed in my imagination, it was a vivid and very real world that formed early in my childhood. A world filled with distinct characters, lifelike dreams and strange experiences. All the dolls I owned as a child were modified to create darker versions of their former selves and any of my early work always reflected my love of the strange. Sometimes taking this direction can be more difficult when studying art as my work was often labelled morbid or appalling, although nowadays it is becoming far more acceptable to lean towards a more diverse style. Being this sort of artist you can’t change the way you work. I draw inspiration from anything the evokes a sense of mystery, I have been fascinated by Jim Henson’s early work, the re-emergence of the Japanese Blythe dolls and the Pop Surrealist artists from the late 1990’s onwards. When I first experienced movies like The Dark Crystal, Never Ending Story and Labyrinth in my pre teen years, it ignited a passion to bring life to puppet-like characters although it would take many more years to fully realise my vision. These creations with their simple features somehow evoke complex moods and emotions, you know you cannot create art that would be deemed traditionally acceptable while remaining true to yourself, I think it’s time to restore a balance within the artistry of dolls. I love each and every soul (doll) I create, I hope you find a doll you can connect with and that you find a home in each other. Some of my work focuses on caricature and custom made dolls, creepy, strange and zombified versions of themselves. The zombie genre, although popular at the moment, has many diehard fans predating current shows like The Walking Dead. A cult following dating back to the days of Romero’s early films, these people form a large percentage of my collectors. Hope you find my work morbid and appealing in a cool way.
