Far from being just another toy for little children to play with, dolls have captured the imagination of children around the world, and are often a child’s most treasured possession.
Over the years, artisans have been revolutionising the whole idea of dolls, including dollmaker Yeo Mei Ying, who has crafted different looks and created custom clothes and accessories like handbags, weapons and shoes. She shares her creations on her Instagram at @evangelione.
Yeo explained: “I have always been into crafting and dolls. I started making dolls while I was in primary school, but those were just simple stuffing dolls and paper dolls.
“I started turning my passion into a business in 2006. I was blogging about my handmade works and dolls, and people started requesting to purchase them.”
Yeo believes that there are endless possibilities in terms of creativity when comes to dollmaking, and decided to explore creating dolls with various types of materials and experimenting with different techniques, carving her own niche in the world of dolls.
As the orders kept coming in, Yeo took the opportunity to hone her skills and expand her online business (www.evangelione.com) by opening a physical shop in 2015.
A medium to express creativity
For Yeo, dolls are a medium to express her imagination and creativity. Every doll she creates with fabric, felt or fibre is not just a mere toy. Instead, each artistic creation is meaningful to her.
“Dolls have a special meaning to me, they are my companions, they are so pretty and perfect, they inspire me to create stories. They are a good medium to tell stories and expressions. They resemble many beautiful and wonderful things,” explained Yeo.
She creates visually beautiful – and most importantly, collectible – figures. Unlike most dolls which have Western features, Yeo’s original and creative dolls are uniquely Asian. If you take a closer look, you will realise that the dolls resemble Yeo herself.
This is because she symbolically places a little piece of herself inside her creations, making each doll special to her.
“Every doll has a little piece of my heart,” claimed Yeo.
However, each doll tells its own story and reflects different personalities inspired by different eras, country or cultures.
There is a Japanese doll named Rena which is dressed in a kimono. Another Little Red Riding Hood-inspired doll is named Miss Vanilla Buttercream, while another, Miss Blue Velvet, is inspired by cakes. There are also the King and Queen of Hearts, dolls inspired by poker cards.
One-of-a-kind
Yeo describes her dolls simply as ‘one-of-a-kind’, although doll collectors have a different view.
“I remember one time, a customer described my dolls as ‘the sad kind of happy’. Although, most of the feedback I receive is that they are ‘grumpy dolls’,” she said.
“To be honest, I didn’t purposely make their expressions happy or grumpy, they just turned out that way. I guess it depends on my mood at a particular moment.
“Actually, I quite like my doll to be described as grumpy, just like little kids, if they are not happy they show you they are not happy, they don’t have to pretend.”
Sculpting a beauty
Yeo sculpts her dolls from scratch using materials like fabric, felt, and clay.
“For the body, I use fabric and stuff it with polyester fibre and wire or clay to form the figure. The hair is formed with Mohair, felt, and wool,” said Yeo.
She also handmakes each accessory for the doll. A simple doll can take up to a day to complete, while a complicated doll needs about two to three days or sometimes even a week.
The most challenging part in the process involves crafting the minute details on the face.
She revealed: “The face is the most important part, I stitch the tiny eye and mouth details by hand, so it’s very difficult to get it right, sometimes. Apart from that, time is of the essence.
“It’s challenging to me because I have so many ideas, but too little time.”
Inspired by imagination
Every doll has its own character and is inspired by many things.
“For example, I like Alice in Wonderland very much, [and] I like to recreate characters from fairytales and see how they would look like,” said Yeo.
She is also inspired by films and history, as well as various cultures around the world. For instance, the first doll she made was inspired by the late actress Audrey Hepburn, and she even named the doll after her.
“Movies and stories inspire me the most. Historical figures like Marie Antoinette, and [looks from] the Victorian and Edwardian eras, and even cultures such Japanese and French, as well. I am easily inspired,” she revealed.
Surprisingly, Yeo does not have a particular favourite doll. “I really don’t have a favourite one but every time I make a new one, they are my favourite until the next one comes out.”
Recently, she sculpted a Christmas tree cake doll,. She admitted that she loved using dolls as a medium to do installation art and exhibitions.
“I would love to do bigger scale exhibitions and installations in the future,” a hopeful Yeo said.
