Plastic Fantastic: Margaux Lange’s Doll Desecrations

Chopping and slicing, Margaux Lange mutilates the body of one of the world’s greatest icons. Tearing off ears, cutting off limbs, she takes no prisoners when it comes to art. Lange is a contemporary jewellery designer, and her victim is a Barbie doll, which she innocently pulls apart, turning it into avant-garde jewellery pieces ideal for any princess, plastic or not. For most, childhood memories of Barbie and her lover Ken were packed away in the attic by the time they hit adolescence. For Lange, the separation was too hard -- and now at the ripe age of 30, she has found an acceptable way of keeping the perky doll in our lives.

“My Plastic Body Series is ‘art jewellery’ made with Barbie doll parts, sterling silver, and resin,” explains the native New Yorker who’s been working on the hand-made series for the past eight years. “It’s an examination and celebration of our cultures’ relationship with Barbie, the icon. What I adored as a child has become the focus of my career as an adult. The queen of accessorising became the accessory.”

Lange’s first collection piece was Barbie Hand Earrings. “It seemed the most obvious at the time: two hands, two ears ... voila!” From here her ideas spiralled into more challenging dimensions. Soon Lange was designing pieces that related to ideals in society today, such as love, homosexuality, and personal identity. In doing so she has successfully transformed what is perceived as a childhood fantasy into a mature conception.

The Plastic Body Series is a creative recycling process. Adding an economical and environmentally friendly aspect to her creations, Lange purposefully doesn’t use new dolls. “I collect them from yard sales and eBay mostly, and of course I accept donations from any little girl ready to rid her life of plastic soap operas,” she says passionately. However, thriftiness isn’t her only motive; the jeweller believes old dolls add character to her pieces.

“It’s important that the dolls are acquired as second-hand objects and they’ve had a previous life in the hands of a child,” she says. “This has become an important part of the story, the love, and the conceptual basis for these works. I enjoy the idea that the dolls are being repurposed and contributing to art, not landfills.”

In the past many argued Barbie’s unrealistic figure was a bad role model for young girls. Through her jewellery, Lange hopes to negate these old-fashioned prejudices about the timeless beauty.

“Each child’s experience with Barbie is unique and I believe there’s value in that,” she states. “There are more damaging real life ‘role models’. Celebrities, pop culture, and advertising play a far greater role than Barbie in influencing and developing a child’s self-image. I see Barbie predominantly as a toy and a tool, and in the hands of a child, she can be a source of empowerment through exploration and imagination.”