A Little Room for Art

Jill Oldenski

Fiber, Mixed Media

"Storyfolks" are oak cloth and mixed media dolls and figurative pieces that I began creating in 1990. At the time, I was working fairly steadily as a storyteller, and planned to develop this path. Then one day I drew a simple pattern and sewed up a cloth doll. Then another. Then another, and another, and soon I was selling in craft shows and small shops. (I should mention here that I have had a lifelong fascination with dolls, and with "making things"). My skills developed; I attended workshops, and my techniques
became more sophisticated. I was juried into Florida Craftsmen Gallery, our state wide fine craft association. Gradually my storytelling tapered off, as my passion for dollmaking grew. I see dolls as a form of story, for, after all, dolls are a representation of the human form, and as ancient as humankind, historically often holding great power.

Storyfolks dolls are, at their essence, my attempt to express the intangible with the tangible ... to venture into the psyche and evoke memory, dreaming, and longing, as well as to explore the interconnection of species and elements, such as earth, air, fire and water. The concepts of metamorphosis, myth, and alchemy are vital components of my work. My dolls are not designed as playtoys.