Local artist Simona Rosasco lies behind her collection of Barbie dolls. She has more than 50 dolls and likes to photograph them. Her works are now on display at Mica of Bakersville.
Has Barbie movie mania driven you into remembrances of childhood experiences with Barbie dolls?
Mica artist Simona Rosasco has been playing with these dolls since 2014, creating scenes that she then photographs to create fun and quirky notecards.
Rosasco has 56 dolls, salvaged from thrift stores, depicting Barbie, Ken and friends that she poses and photographs in natural surroundings from the beaches of her hometown in Pensacola, Florida, to the mountains, waterfalls and snowy landscapes of her current home in Bakersville. She has even photographed them in her travels to New York and beyond.
“As a young girl raised in an Italian Catholic family my mother thought, as did many mothers in the 50s and 60s, that a doll with an adult figure was inappropriate for her four young daughters to entertain themselves with,” Rosasco said. “Somehow, the years of not being allowed to play with a doll whose body incited controversy, has me now, well…playing with dolls 60-plus years later.”
Through trial and error, Rosasco discovered that the jointed dolls have flexibility and are easier to pose. She is also always on the lookout for sources of great props.
“I have handmade miniature spray cans so Barbie and her friends can spray Graffiti,” she said. “I use little sweaters that came on Christmas ornaments so my dolls can dress for a Tacky Christmas Sweater Party. I do not use any Photoshop or editing programs. It’s just me, my dolls, a few props and the environment around us.”
Rosasco’s Barbie cards are now on display at Mica of Bakersville (37 Mitchell Ave.), the artist-run gallery of fine art and contemporary craft.
For more about Mica, visit micagallerync.com or find the gallery on Facebook (Mica Gallery NC) or Instagram (micagallerync).