The Doll House
An exhibition at the Heard Museum in Phoenix spotlights intricately beaded dolls and the Indigenous stories they tell.
PHOENIX, AZ
Originating at the Denver Art Museum, Grand Procession: Contemporary Indian Dolls from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection has journeyed to the Heard Museum in Phoenix and will remain on view through April 17, 2020. At the forefront of the exhibition are 23 contemporary Plains Indian dolls—also known as soft sculptures—from the collection of Charles and Valerie Diker. The couple, who began collecting Native dolls and ledger drawings in the mid-1980s, amassed one of the largest private collections of its kind.
Grand Procession, originally curated by Nancy Blomberg of the Denver Art Museum, celebrates not only the exceptional collection of dolls, but also the story of Indigenous peoples from the Great Plains and Great Basin regions who lived in those areas during the late 19th to early 20th centuries. Diana Pardue, the Heard Museum’s curator of collections, ensured a successful execution of Grand Procession, referencing Blomberg in the Phoenix exhibition. Didactics drawn from Lois Dubin’s book—which accompanies the exhibition and is also titled Grand Procession: Contemporary Indian Dolls from the Charles and Valerie Diker Collection—have also been included in the Heard’s exhibition.
“Much time was spent carefully unpacking and conditioning checking the individual dolls after transport,” says Pardue. “Since we had the dimensions, knew the number of dolls in the exhibition and had Lois Dubin’s book as a resource, the exhibition took only a matter of months to prepare. We also drew historic photographs from the Heard’s Billie Jane Baguley Library and Archives. These were reproduced in a large format for the exhibition.”
The featured works were created by Jamie Okuma (Luiseño/shoshone-bannock), Rhonda Holy Bear (Cheyenne River Sioux/lakota) and three generations of Growing Thunder family members: Joyce Growing Thunder, Juanita Growing Thunder Fogarty and Jessa Rae Growing Thunder (Assiniboine/sioux). Standing at around 2 feet tall, each doll was embellished with tiny micro-beads in intricate detail and carefully clothed in beaded and quilled ceremonial garb, accurately depicting the Plains and Plateau traditions of the centuries they represent. Laid out according to artist, the dolls from the Growing Thunders stand together, as a family, enclosed in a large case in the center of the exhibition.
“All five women have made their own clothes for
cultural events and have embellished the clothing with intricate beadwork,” Pardue says about the artists. “Many made their first dolls as children. All have received awards and recognition at the Heard Museum Guild Indian Fair & Market and at the Santa Fe Indian Market. Some have been awarded the prestigious Best of Show award at these events. This work is unimaginable for someone who does not do beadwork. The beads are so small that they are referred to as micro-beads. The details of the clothing and accouterments are amazing.”
In Lady in Red, by Okuma, the intricate details are hard to miss. The doll, a Lakota woman, wears a red outfit complete with fringe and patterns created with colors traditionally seen in Lakota beadwork. Her long locks are perfectly braided and not a single hair is out of place.
Another work by Holy Bear, titled Maternal Journey, shows a mother traveling on horseback with her two children pulled behind the horse on a travois.
“Rhonda Holly Bear carves the faces of her figures and, as such, considers them to be sculptures rather than soft sculptures,” says Pardue. “Every detail is specific including the small doll held by the child.”
Pardue points out that the exhibition presents a prime opportunity to not only learn more about the cultures represented, but also to discover a new type of artwork. “This art form may be new to many visitors if they are not familiar with the artists and their works,” she shares. “[They] will most definitely be amazed at the intricate detail in each work.”