'I See Me' Dolls

From the artist: "This is a story about me growing up not loving my kinky hair. Being on a block that had many
different nationalities, I preferred hair that was silky, easy to comb, and blew in the wind. I called
it “Wash and Wear” hair, because my friends could wash their hair and run out the door soon
afterwards, not needing to do anything further with it.
Around 15, I began to notice the opposite sex, and I noticed that the Black guys on the block
preferred wavy, curly, and silky hair, and not hair like mine. We were all Black, but the ones that
they preferred were the biracial girls who possessed the silken hair type. It hurt my feelings and
made me sulk.
My mother saw me in that state one day. She sat down with me, asked what was going on, and I
confided in her. She excused herself, and soon returned with beads, fabric, earrings, a comb, and
a brush–all of my hair dressings. We began making a doll.
I had never liked playing with dolls, I preferred taking the doorknobs off doors or taking apart
bicycles. Still, because it was me and mom, sitting side-by-side in a crowded household, it felt
really special. I was puzzled by what she was going to do with all the hair dressings, particularly
my brush. What she did was that she began to apply the objects of mine that I found beautiful
and put them on the doll. She had so much excitement and she was talking to me about how my
skin was so pretty.
She took out pipe cleaners and a meat knife, and began to carve indentations into the head of the
doll. She then put glue onto the tips of the pipe cleaners and inserted them into the openings. I
remember so vividly the way she pulled my hair out of my hair brush and wrapped the loose
strands around the pipe cleaners. After that, she took the beads and created a beautiful hairdo that
looked like the hairdos she would put me and my sisters in. She held the doll and we looked at it,
with my wooly hair springing around, the beads making it dangle. She told me, “This doll is
beautiful, and this doll is made of you, and you’re beautiful and don’t you ever forget it.”
What the doll did for me that day was that it taught me how to celebrate my differences instead
of comparing my differences to the other girls. Not to want what they have, but to love what I
have. To still appreciate what they have, but never underappreciate what I have. It taught me to
see me. These are the I See Me dolls.
Topsy Turvy Doll:
Currently, I’m working on the Topsy Turvy Doll Series. They are historical dolls that were
created during the antebellum period of the United States. House slaves witnessed their children
joyfully playing with their master’s children’s dolls and created a doll with two faces–white and
black. Only one face can be seen at a time, the other camouflaged by a skirt. The mothers
instructed their children that if the master was present, to play with the white part, and if the
master wasn’t present, to flip to the black part. Learning about this impressed me. The doll
represented resistance, rebellion, perseverance, and love. My intention with the Topsy Turvy
Doll Series is not to pair white-and-black, but to pair different women whose historical contexts
link them. For example, Elizabeth Catlett, who burned her American passport and moved to
Mexico, would be paired with Edmonia Lewis, who moved to Europe after being accused of
murder. Both refused to remain in a racist United States. The dolls will be wall-mounted in a
manner that allows them to rotate, displaying both views. I want the audience of the dolls to stop,
think, and reflect as I retell our collective stories"