It’s only rock and dolls..but I like it
Galway-based artist’s replicas fetch up to €1,300 from across the world
MEET the doll maker whose lovingly hand-crafted artworks are sold worldwide with a price tag of up to €1,300 apiece.
Helga Pikal spends up to 200 hours creating each one at her home in Kinvara, Co Galway, then exports them globally via online markets.
The one-of-a-kind character dolls are hand-sculpted from polymer clay and inspired by myth, folklore and, more recently, music legends.
Collectors clamour to get their hands on the likes of Jimi Hendrix, Phil Lynott or Willie Nelson – all priced at €1,300.
A Janice Joplin or Freddie Mercury goes for €925, with Rolling Stones frontman Mick Jagger commanding slightly less at €890.
Czechoslovakia-born Helga said: “My parents moved to Germany when I was 14. I’m in Ireland now for 30 years. I moved to Galway which was at the time a kind of Mecca for music and crazy people – and still is.”
Helga started crafting as a child making intricate rag dolls before progressing to puppets and replicas.
She revealed: “Each one takes up to 200 hours. I can’t describe what I do, I just sit down and start working.
“Quite a few are rooted in the seventies, that music culture, because the hippie era would be my favourite. I’ve been doing rock stars for the past few years because they are the best selling.”
Helga spends hours scouting flea markets and trawling online for beads and jewellery to ensure every detail on every doll is authentic.
She said: “The most exotic place my dolls end up in is Guam, that is in the middle of the Pacific.
“This guy bought a doll on Etsy of Frank Zappa, I’d never heard of Guam... you’re appealing to all these aged hippies.”
Helga’s work features on Life in A Million Ads on
RTE One tomorrow, which explores online buying and selling. She admitted: “I resisted social media for a long time, but I knew I had to at some stage. “The galleries started charging so much commission, and Etsy is quite reasonable. “It’s like sending children into the world... but when they go to good homes and people send me photos of them then that makes me happy.” Helga’s amazing dolls can be viewed at www.etsy.com/ca/ people/helgapikal1