Cloth Paper Scissors Reader Challenge - Mother Earth Doll

In celebration of Earth Day, Cloth Paper Scissors challenged readers to create their own interpretation of Mother Earth in the form of a Mother Earth Doll.

While I do not consider myself a doll artist, I thought that perhaps one of my figurative assemblages could be used to interpret the theme of this challenge...and I was right! My piece was one of the nine finalists selected to appear in the March/April 2010 issue of the magazine.

Mother Earth Doll

 If a challenge should push you out of your comfort zone then this project definitely succeeded with me. When I make assemblage sculptures from disparate objects I rely on layers of acrylic paint to pull it all together. But I thought Mother Earth should have a more organic look. So I put my acrylic paints away and instead tea stained the cheesecloth robe and incorporated some natural elements. The face is a detail from one of my drawings that seemed to capture Mother Earth’s kindly spirit. But I also gave her a metal breastplate because while she may be nurturing, I suspect that sometimes Mother Earth has to do battle and could use a little armor.