The feminist artists who use Barbies in their work
The toy industry may look like a lot of fun, but just like every money-making scheme, it’s a serious business. Capable of raking in billions in sales with the potential for a whole multimedia franchise, brands like Lego, Hot Wheels, Nerf, Barbie and Nintendo have ingrained themselves within the childhoods of millions of people across the globe, informing not only their formative years of development but also the wider world of pop culture.
Manufactured by the American toy company Mattel, Barbie was a fashion doll and character created by businesswoman Ruth Handler in 1959. Unlike other toys of its kind on the market, Barbie was an adult doll made by Handler so that young girls had a more realistic and aspirational figurine that better represented what they actually wanted to be in the future.
Quickly catching on, the doll became a staple of Western childhoods, with countless variations of the toy being created that included different costumes, playhouses, pets, vehicles and much more. To date, Mattel has sold over a billion Barbie dolls, with the line of toys having a significant impact on social values in the late 20th century, with the rise of their popularity reflecting the independence and forthright nature of feminism during the same time.
As a result of their cultural value, Barbies have been referenced in each and every corner of pop culture, from the irritating shrill of Aqua’s ‘Barbie Girl’, which was written as an expression of the kitsch art style, to Greta Gerwig’s recent Hollywood flick that ironically explores the corruption of consumerism in modern society.
Elsewhere, creatives from across the globe have also incorporated Barbie’s iconic visual style into their work, such as the contemporary German/Australian artist Freya Jobbins. Largely exploring personal themes of identity in modern society, Jobbins has used dismembered plastic parts of Barbie dolls throughout her work, assembling them in 3D mosaics to create stunning modern sculptures.
On her website, she states: “My work is based on appropriation, re-assemblage and subversion of pre-existent objects, where I continue to explore notions of identity, motifs and my own dissimulation”.
She isn’t alone in her use of such unique materials either, with Margaux Lange, an artist creating handmade and re-purposed wearable pieces, having something of an obsession with Barbie, the undisputed pop-culture icon. Crediting the doll with giving her the foundations for her own creativity and resourcefulness during her youth, Lange has earned international attention for her striking pieces that incorporate different dismembered Barbie body parts into necklaces, earrings, brooches and more.
An iconic toy that comes to represent the incessant rush of Western consumerism in the lead-up to the 21st century, as well as the debate over female beauty standards in the modern world, Barbies are far more significant than their sturdy plastic exterior suggests.
