Fine Art Makers

Popovy Sisters

The talented siblings Katya and Lena, known as Popovy Sisters, have been making fine art dolls since 2004. Inspired by art, history, nature, fashion and much more, they expressed their vision of unique beauty in several limited collections so far, and are not only celebrated but admired for that all around the world. And so do we. Deeply impressed by a seemingly boundless thirst for design, we take you with us into the sister’s creative fireworks of ideas.

The Sturgheons: Please introduce yourselves: who are you, where are you from and what do you do?

Popovy Sisters: We were born in Perm, Russia, lived in the Ukraine for several years, and are working in St. Petersburg for 6 years now, where our studio is located and where we have better access to the world, to get the best materials and fabrics. To distinguish our profession is very difficult, because it contains of so many things. We are fashion designers, make-up artists, hair-dressers, sculptors, fine art-doll makers, photographers, that’s what we do.

How did you come to “doll love”? Did it start – like with so many girls – with Barbie?

Back in the Soviet Union, where we grew up, we all hated dolls. Because mainly in the Soviet Union, the dolls were chubby, all kinds of weird. They looked like old children. So we started to draw our own figures. We had a lot of paper dolls with an enormous amount of outfits for them. We drew everything on paper. All our early characters, paper dolls and what we used to draw, had human bodies but with the head of foxes. Every single one of those characters had their own wardrobe, their own set of outfits, made especially for them to highlight their own specifications. When our sister told us that with our talent we should study fashion design after all, we were overjoyed to learn that there was a possibility to turn our hobby into a profession.

When we first saw Barbie and Cindy, a British doll, we liked Cindy much more because Cindy had better outfits. Our first own doll of this kind was a Chinese fake doll with a Cindy head. And we were in love with her green eyes, but we hated her body. So we used plastic to make the body look better, more anatomically correct. That was probably our first step into doll making, trying to improve this fake Cindy doll. 

But it should not remain with fox faces and Cindy’s green eyes, right? How did you manage to capture the essence, the character of a figure?

We had the hobby of drawing different characters from films, bands and rock stars, mainly portraits. That was a big step for us, because it taught us how to capture the essence of the emotion of a face. We had an old VHS player that we could only pause for 60 seconds, so we only had 60 seconds to draw the face. That was very good training, and it helped with sketching afterwards. It taught us how to capture the essence of a character. We can draw a sketch in 10 seconds and you can tell exactly that's the person.

What were your beginnings in the doll making business like? How did you learn what materials to use to make dolls, how to process these materials and what is best for what?

When we were studying fashion design at the academy in Ekaterinburg, we had the task of designing a doll. To get inspired, we went to a doll exhibition and that was the first time we saw this world of dolls and the people who make dolls. We were very impressed by the materials the dolls were made of. The plastic that was used looked like skin – that was a big inspiration. So we took some basic courses and then started to make it ourselves.

We started with making portrait dolls. Our very first doll we made was Madonna. Then Marylin Manson, Dita von Teese, Marylin Monroe and various literary figures like Hamlet. However, we realised that these portrait dolls didn't give us any artistic freedom because their fashion was already set. We wanted to design something unique that matched our style and fashion sense. So we created our own first collection of dolls, still static, which we called "Fashion Moon". And it blew up the Moscow exhibition. No one had made dolls like that before. They were like rice paper lamps: a combination of different shapes of 18th century Japanese lamps, with each doll wearing a lamp under its dress. That was our milestone collection that changed everything. We had found our style, became known for it, won prizes. After that, we decided to continue with it.

How did you came from stiff to moving doll bodies?

We always wanted to make fashion, to expand our techniques and to realise our many ideas. A flexible body gives us a lot of artistic freedom. So we decided to make this kind of dolls. But it is a very time-consuming job, because first the sculpture with all its components has to be created for it and only then come the outfits.

And how much time do you need to make a collection?

When we used to make static dolls, it took us about 1 year to make a collection of 12 dolls. Now, when we make a new collection of 5 dolls, it takes us about 3 months. The inspiration process is excluded. We sketch all the time and we always have sketches that we can realise.

In that case, do you see yourselves more as craftsmen or as designers?

Beginning with sketches, that always help to picture our visions, we create everything on our own: Shape prototypes, make-ups, wigs, whole outfits and shoes. Over many years we have developed our techniques and are familiar with the use of different contemporary but also historical materials. We know how antique silk works and feels like. Or when to use llama or goat hair for the wigs. And as trained fashion designers, we always strive to develop our own fashion creations for our doll collections as well. That's why we mark our creations – always in different places – with our "Moth Tattoo": a kind of test seal for our customers that they are holding a Popovy Sisters original in their hands.

And of course our work is also of an artisanal nature. But we see ourselves more as artists and designers: fashion designers, make-up artists, hair stylists, photographers, ...

Your many talents, interests and experiences are so varied. Is there a source of inspiration that you always use for your dolls, clothes and make-up?

The whole universe inspires us. Since early childhood, we have been inspired by everything: people, fashion, music, computer games ... but above all by nature – "the designer of all designers“. There is not one thing that inspires us. We are always full of ideas. Unfortunately, we just don't have the time to bring everything we have in our heads to life.

Do you actually have a division of labor in your studio? So one person does the hairstyles and the other one is responsible for the clothes? Or do you both do everything and always together?

We used to do everything together. We both have the skills to do everything in every task. But over time, Katya does more hairstyles and wigs for convenience, while Lena does more make-up and outfits. For example, when we work on a new collection, we always start sketching together, we gather information, collect materials, everything together. We share our moods, thoughts and impressions right at the beginning. If it's something new, we do it together – but if we're working on commissions, we can also split up.

Your dolls are not made to be play figures, right? Was it always your intention to create pieces of art?

We don’t set boundaries to ourselves, by saying this is playable or not, or we make art. With some dolls you can actually play. The doll art is a big area where we can do anything, everything we can imagine. That’s why we love what we do. It is much more important to us to tell a new story with each doll that allows one to dream and escape into a world of unfettered imagination.

With which words would you describe your creations?

Difficult question, we still look for the answer to this question. It’s a mystery for ourselves. (laugh). We see how our art inspires other people. Often on Instagram we get messages from people saying “Thank you, that your dolls are not showing the perfect world. Now that I saw your 'imperfect' creations I feel better about myself.“ For example, people who don’t like their protruding ears, or someone who dislikes the tooth gap… These features on the dolls are not perfect. But we want to show these little imperfections on our dolls and want to show the beauty in it.

With “Venus” you have recently created a new body shape, so to say an ode to femininity. What was your intention behind it?

We had the idea to do "Venus" about two years ago, but it took so long to form this idea and gather all the information before we started with this body shape. We combined modern trends with the trends of the past. We felt it was time to make something new. Something that is needed right now. With "Venus" we can show that every body shape is beautiful just as it is.

Do you have a favorite doll?

We don't create anything we don't like. We love everything we make and we don't have a favourite. Each doll takes so much time to make. When we spend so much time making a doll, we put so much of ourselves into it. Our souls, our history. And when we send the dolls to our customers, we take one last look before we send the package. So it's hard for us to say goodbye to every doll we make.

But there are some dolls that have a special story for us. We had a collection called "Mod", inspired by Japanese culture, a static doll collection. One of these dolls called "Samurai" was sent to an exhibition somewhere in Europe. When the doll came back, we found that it was damaged, the head had fallen off the body. We took it out of the box and put it on the table – the head next to the body – and we realised that this was a real gift from the universe, because she looked great. She looked like an unbreakable warrior with her head lost, because she was still standing. The doll's eyes were staring into the distance, and that was a powerful feeling. That gave this doll the final touch. (laughter) So some dolls have stories like that, that's what makes them special to us.  But we don't love them more than the others. 

Is it sometimes difficult to work with your sister? Have you always been one heart and soul?

It is the biggest gift from the universe for us, because so we can do twice as much as one person. We inspire each other and all goes really smooth. Actually, we can't compare what it would be like if we were alone, because we've always been together, we don't know what it's like to work separately. Since our childhood, since we developing our skills we always tried to impress each other, it was like a competition, but a kind one, in that we always wanted to be better than the other one. That was the reason of the constant growth of our skills in all areas. And it’s still happening today, for example when we are sketching and for some reason there is only one pen around, we are fighting for it to do the sketches. We discuss everything, and we are still pushing each other. It is a lot of fun.

And in the future – can you imagine working together for many more years?

We want to work together forever, but we can't say if we will make dolls forever. We just want to follow our inspiration. It may happen that we make fashion for people or something else, we just want to use our inspiration for whatever will come and look forward.

Are there already concrete ideas and concepts that you want to breathe life into?

We are currently working on several body modifications of "Venus" and a new collection called "Feathered Serpent". We have been working on this collection for a year now and we want to give it more time because it will be very special for us. 

And there are plans for a personal exhibition to come. It will start here in St. Petersburg at the Museum of Modern Art and then travel around the world. Including dolls from past collections and static dolls from private collections. It will be super exciting! 

We are also working on a book for a very long time. And maybe it will be split into two parts because of all the material collected. The publication is planned for this year or next year ... We'll see when it's ready.

And we have ideas to make our fashion for people too, like we did with our "Bison" glasses collection. Because we love designing outfits and hope to do more collaborations with big fashion brands in the future. Maybe in lingerie, accessories and outfits. We have so many ideas.

Do you still have a dream you want to fulfill?

We want to bring as much ideas to life as long as we are on this planet. And just want to have more time for being happy, creative and to do what we love.

Many thanks to Igor for helping with the translation and conducting the interview!

www.popovy-dolls.com

Russia, February 2021. | Interview by The Sturgheons with Popovy Sisters and Igor Korzhov. | Photos by Popovy Sisters. | Video by Chiara Feriani in collaboration with Popovy Sisters. | Portraits by Valentina Oriental and Danil Golovkin with Artwork by Ruben Ireland.