Carmen Garaghon

Fitzroy’s dolls are a sculptural re-working of scavenging, borne out of late night solitude and sewing as a remedy. Hidden away from public view a series of little freaks were created and have become an obsessive autobiographical project. Each doll is created using materials around the home or gathered in nature, found or stolen.

They hold intimate memories and her work has grown to become a kind of creative storehouse of objects that refer to personal memories or evoke events. Often gifts or commissions, Carmen sews with love and intention. “Each piece takes on its own personality and I hold the person I am making for in my mind, I guess they are a sort of blessing and the making process is as important to me as the finished product.”

Her dolls often reference the home; that intimate, private domestic space. The use of domestic materials, objects and traditional textile practices explore the idea of the ‘feminine’, whilst the creative process and assemblage have become a vehicle for artistic therapy and expression, helping to speak words hard to say, recover hope and smile.

So now a tension and contradiction emerges from the public display of such private concerns, but Fitzroy’s Art Dolls want to play…