I love this image. It is a postcard that I have framed in my apartment that I got at the Museum of Communism in Prague (which the back of the postcard tells you is conveniently located above Mc Donald’s and next to the casino- ironic). It is the image of a matryoshka Russian nesting doll. A traditional wooden toy signifying the onion, in that each layer of the onion that you peel off results in another smaller onion. Created out of a folk art tradition and used to help children learn to count it was common that the largest/ outermost doll represented a portly mother with children nesting inside. The design for this postcard leaves all the traditional and expected details of the Russian nesting doll intact, only altering the slant of the eyes and the lips, which is traditionally little more that a red dot into a threatening, fang toothed mouth. The few, small changes that are made alter a child’s toy into a dominating and threatening “mother” figure of soviet occupation and the ugly face communist control.
This is quite funny, I think it kind of has elements of "grotesque", "personification" and "character". As it is supposed to represent a mother, but the artist has made it an overpowering communist figure. This is also very ironic, your post basically represents all the vocabulary that we have discussed in class. I like the colors and the design as well.
ReplyDeleteThis is an interesting way to explore caricature through a three dimensioanl toy. the slight modifications to the toy make for a grotesque outcome. More intimidating than not- this postcard is visually disturbing as well as mind consuming. It provokes the viewer to take the stand point of the creator. This is not subtle, and screams for a reform of some type!
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