Tattooed Doll (female)

This curious figure suggests a vintage baby doll with missing arms and what appear to be calcified growths on its chest and head. Michele Oka Doner has long been inspired by organic material, especially ocean life and seashells. She shares, “The clay forms recalled the fragmentary nature of the corals I picked up on the beach.” Oka Doner sculpted about a dozen different ceramic dolls starting in 1966, her final year at the University of Michigan. In 1967, photographs of Vietnamese children burned by napalm shocked the American public, and the dolls quickly became symbols for anti-war protests. The artist embraced this interpretation and had it in mind when creating additional versions.