Simulakra 1st edition

simulacrum [ s mj le kr m]

n pl -cra [-kr ] Archaic

1. any image or representation of something

2. a slight, unreal, or vague semblance of something; superficial likeness

[from Latin: likeness, from simulāre to imitate, from similis like]

e ʊˈI ˌ

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...there was a little girl who wanted to grow up to become either a prince, a farmer, or Robin Hood. The years passed and she grew tall, as was the custom for people from her land. And while she once dressed like a prince, tilled the soil and kept chickens like a farmer, and wore tights like Robin Hood, she didn’t really grow up. Instead she became a doll maker.

twigling took her name from a tale of neomythic fiction, because she identified strongly with themes of mythology, fairytales, folklore, handcrafts and all things natural. She was fed a healthy mix of these things during her formative years, and had an innate urge to make things.

As a doll maker, she was completely self taught, learning from trial and error and occasional success, from research and observation and perhaps a generous sprinkle of rather mundane dust.

She specialised firstly in the movement and posture of joints, trying always to make her dolls pose naturally and gracefully, and with an ease that made them a delight to play with. Her creations were clean slates, hundreds of lovely sisters that travelled all over the Earth.

But twigling also aspired to express some of her other skills and ideas through her dolls, and with the help of a fairy queen, a kind witch and a pair of magical sprites, the Ladies of Lore that you find between the covers of this catalogue were brought to life. In the pages that follow, you can both learn about the artists involved and discover each of the princesses.

Once Upon a Time...

Our collection of one of a kind, fully customised character dolls are taken from a blend of epic legends, fantasy fiction, folktales, classic paintings and past epochs of art and fashion, as well as contemporary books, video games, films and TV-series that may well have tapped many of these same deep sources for inspiration.

While they may remind you of stories you already know from your childhood, or archetypes from the collective unconscious, these seven princesses are completely new to the world, and waiting for their knights (or knightesses) in shining armour to arrive.

Some of them are elves and fairies, and others mere mortals, but each one holds a certain noesis of a story that wants to be written. We invite you to peruse and enjoy this catalog, and are delighted to inform you that you will be able to see almost all the dolls in person if you are attending LDoll Festival 5 in Lyon this October, or maybe you already saw them at Dolliverse in Nijmegen this summer.

Perhaps you will be the one to write one of their stories?

SalammboElf Ingenue in rose pink resin, with the largest bust and long-nailed hands.She is wearing a hand-dyed soft yellow drop-back gown with a leather collar, accompanied with a lace shawl in antique gold.Her hair is made with copper-brown alpaca fibre.Her faceup is painted in tones of shimmering yellow and green tones with a petal embellishment aroundthe right eye.Her 14mm glass eyes are of a rich vermillion brown colour.

In private collection, not for sale

“To see a world in a grain of sand,And a heaven in a wild flower,Hold infinity in the palm of your hand,And eternity in an hour.”

William Blake

“She liked time at the edges of things -the edge of the crowd, the edge of the pool, the edge of the wood -where all must pass but none quite belonged.”

Nicola Griffith

Vulpeja

Elf Ingenue in rose pink resin with the largest bust and long-nailed hands.

She wears a hand-dyed cotton dress in lilac and indigo tones with an embossed

leather corset and white metal buckle. Her wig is made from a gradient of grey alpaca fibre, which is darker at the tips

than at the roots.The lightly freckled face is shaded with

cool tones to match the blue and purple mixed glass eyes.

Price € 650,-Will come with, wig, eyes and

necklace. The dress has been sold.

PeisinoëHuman open eyed Ingenue in rose pink

resin with the smallest bust andlong-nailed hands.

She is wearing a hand-dyed cotton shift of light blue and puce, adorned with a

small cameo brooch and a braided belt. Her fawn-brown hair is made from

alpaca fibre and decorated with a wreath of flowers.

A soft and neutral faceup, gives her pale blue-grey glass eyes a gentle glow.

Price € 700,- Will come with, wig and eyes.

The dress has been sold.

But pleasures are like poppies spread, You sieze the flower, its bloom is shed; Or like the snow falls in the river, A moment white--then melts for ever; Or like the borealis race, That flit ere you can point their place; Or like the rainbow’s lovely form Evanishing amid the storm.

Robert Burns

OrotieleIngenieuse (elf ) in rose pink resin with the largest bust and long-nailed hands. Her olive green Mucha-style gown is made from layers of silk and synthetic fabric, adorned with metal embellishments and delicate chains. She has sandy brown hair made from alpaca fibres, accented with turquoise beads and soft braids.Her face is painted in greenish golden hues, and she has earthy brown glass eyes.

In private collection, not for sale

“He feeds upon her face by day and night,And she with true kind eyes looks back on him,Fair as the moon and joyful as the light:Not wan with waiting, not with sorrow dim;Not as she is, but was when hope shone bright;Not as she is, but as she fills his dream.”

Christina Rossetti

SuripantaHuman dreaming Ingenue in rose pink resin with the smallest bust and long-nailed hands.Her dress is made from mauve silk with a pewter clasp, and her light brown alpaca fibre wig is set in an exquisitely adorned and elaborate updo.Her half-closed lids are framed by a dramatic stroke of turquoise colour, that partially hide a pair of caramel brown glass eyes.

Price € 900,-

PoetryO symbol of the alwayssurprising, the unexpected,the eternal desire never within reachobject beyond my power. sigh of my sighs, dreaming of the dreamof all my days and nights

she walks in fire, nakedlythrough my mind.

Uys Krige

TimenahHuman open eyed Ingenue in rose pink

resin with smallest bust andlong-nailed hands.

She is wearing a hand-dyed dress in ice blue, with a ruffle detail and ostrich

leather collar.Her raven black hair is braided with

strands of violet silk.Her strong, blue glass eyes are framed by

neutral tones and natural black lashes and brows.

In private collection, not for sale

“Understood in its metaphysical sense, Beauty is one of the manifestations of the Absolute Being. Emanating from the harmonious rays of the Divine plan, it crosses the intellectual plane to shine once again across the natural plane, where it darkens into matter.”

Jean Delville

Arise, O ambrosial moonBy the strong immemorial spell.By the subtle veridical rune.That is mighty in heaven and hell!Drip thy mystical dewsOn the tongues of the tender faunsIn the shade of initiate yewsRemote from the desert dawns!

Aleister Crowley

AijxhaHuman open eyed Ingenue in antique

pink resin with smallest bust and original style hands.

Her hand-dyed purple gradient outfit consists of a braided belt skirt and

hooded cowl. She also wears a finely crocheted top with metal accent

underneath. The feet and right arm are adorned with knotted cords.

This doll is envisioned as always wearing her hood up and does not have

a wig, however the eyebrows hint that she may have ginger hair underneath

that hood. Her face is completely finished in purple tones, including her deep purple glass eyes.

In private collection, not for sale

ElberethElf Ingenue in rose pink resin with the largest bust and long.-nailed hands. She wears a vintage silk dress with an antique golden bodice embroidered with white flowers.Her ash blonde hair is made with alpaca fibre and adorned with a pale green silk headband and a tingling bell. Sparkling golden eyes are framed in shimmering spring green with a small curlicue below her left eye.

In private collection, not for sale

“The path of a good woman is indeed strewn with flowers; but they rise behind her steps, not before them”

John Ruskin

“Tishalulle,” Huzzah replied, pronouncing the run of the syllables without hesitation. “That’s the sound the waves made when she was born,” she explained.

Clive Barker

TishalulleHuman open eyed Ingenue in rose pink

resin with the smallest bust andlong-nailed hands.

Her body is to be adorned with jewellery that enhances her feminine

form and delicate painted designs. Her faceup and bodyblush is in turquoise

and brown with white patterns.

She is a surprise addition to the catalogue and was not completely

assembled at time of printing, meaning we have not yet settled on the wig and eyes that she will wear, and will do so while setting up the stand at LDoll 5

on the evening of October 17, to be revealed for the first time in her entirety

when the doors open to the public at 11am the next day.

In private collection, not for sale

The torso joint is round rather than oblong, and allows for a generous back and forwards movement, side-to-side movement is also possible, but not as deep. And because of the round shape the torso joint can also be rotated as far as you like without any gaps or overhang showing.

The hips are simple spheres, which allows them to move in as many directions as possible with minimum overhang or gaps showing. The legs are strung separately from the torso through a hole between the hip sockets, so the upside-down T-shaped stringing slot is not very visible in most poses.

The toes are jointed so you can change the foot pose without replacing the foot, and the big toe is separated so she can wear thongs (flip-flops) or geta. There are four little click-stops in the toe joint; one where the toes sort of curl under, the next is the flat, and then a soft heeled pose and finally a full heel.

There are six click-stops in the upper half of the knee, and these will work best if there is some sueding applied for grip. The lower knee may also benefit from some sueding to be able to hold poses beside the straight and fully flexed positions. There is also a stopper in the upper part of the knee that prevents it from bending further than the 90 degrees (thus preventing any gapping), and allowing the lower part of the knee to kick in.

The shoulder cups does not have click-stops but they do have two nubs to hold them in alignment. The L/R markings are designed to face either up or down, depending on your preference for how the shoulder should look, especially in the neutral position.

The elbow joint is double, with a free-rotating and just under 90-degree flexing top half, and a 60-or-so degrees bottom half that will softly lock in at its furthest point.

Notes On Articulation

Measurements

Height 67cm

Wig size 22cm (8/9 inch)

Eye size 14mm or 16mm

Neck (around) 10.5cm

Back length 14cm

Shoulder width w/o arm 9.5cm

(with arm 14cm)

Arm length 19.5cm

Upper arm 8.2cm

Lower arm 8.3cm

Wrist circumference 6cm

Bust (small & medium) 26cm

Bust (large) 28cm

Underbust 22.5cm

Waist 20cm

Hips 33.5cm

Thigh (around) 18cm

Inseam length 34.5cm

Ankle thinnest 7cm

Ankle thickest 9cm

Foot length 7.7cm

Foot width 3.5cm

On The Progeniture of Our Sculpts

Ingenue and the TL3 body was designed and created by Therese (Reese) Olsen, perhaps more widely known as twigling. Ingenue is available in two versions, one with open eyes (OE) and one with nearly-closed eyes (SA).

Nanyalin has also created two heads for the TL3 body, both elves with pointed ears. One is Elf Ingenue, and the other Ingenieuse.In addition, Nanyalin has created a long-nailed version of the hands for this doll, and also a more ample bust size, which is the largest offered.

twigling

Therese is a displaced Norwegian troll who now resides under a bridge in Spain, and has previously lived in a cave in Australia for a number of years. Sculpting dolls has gone from being a hobby, to becoming a way of life and artistic expression. Though she will never grow up, she may yet grow wise.

[email protected]://www.twigling.comhttps://www.facebook.com/pages/twigling/242015645832597http://www.vrouwkijn.tumblr.comhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/twigling

Nanyalin

Marta Prieto Mora is a Spanish BJD customiser, faceup artist and doll sculptor who is strongly inspired by Celtic mythology and legends. She has spent the last five years living the dream in Ireland and as a result carries the spirit of the Sidhe within.

[email protected]://magicmirrorstudio.blogspot.com.es/https://www.facebook.com/MagicMirrorDollshttps://twitter.com/Nanyalinhttp://www.flickr.com/photos/49215682@N05/

Skumring

Britta is a real Norwegian huldre, and also a professional photographer, costume and mask designer, flower decorator, live action role player, doll collector, artist and a force of nature who has been an amazing help and support for twigling in terms of Getting Things Done.

[email protected]://www.flickr.com/photos/yalkipalki/https://www.facebook.com/britta.stillhetenhttp://stillheten.tumblr.com/

About the artists

CustomLovers

Apokripha (Teba) and Yukari (Rebeca) are a pair of amazingly multitalented Spanish girls, based in Madrid. Together the two paints faceups, sew clothes, make wigs and sculpt dolls both by hand and digitally. Rebeca also makes mixed media posable fantasy animals, and Teba is an artist who writes and illustrates graphic novels.

[email protected]://www.flickr.com/photos/customlovers/http://customlovers.blogspot.com/http://apodollshop.weebly.com/http://lacasadefrank.blogspot.com.es/https://www.facebook.com/pages/Custom-Lovers/282031681895310

Winterdeer (formerly Korone)

Pilvi Kuusela is a Finnish haltija with an ingrained feeling for cold weather and shimmering lakes. She is also a faceup artist who specializes in bjd aesthetics, but has a background in illustration and character design, which adds depth and nuance to her work. Pilvi’s style meshes well with the ideas that we have for twigling’s sculpts and the concepts of simulakra, so expect to see more of her magic in the future.

http://winterdeeraesthetic.tumblr.com/https://www.flickr.com/people/66144528@N04/http://instagram.com/powderdeer