Terrariums and Broken Dolls

I love the idea of terrariums, miniature gardens under glass that can be so magical and whimsical, like little worlds unto themselves. On the weekend I was messing around with materials that I had lying about the studio, bits of broken pottery too full of potential to throw away, parts of antique porcelain dolls that had been unearthed from the reject dumps of the doll factories of Thuringia, Germany (c.1850 – 1920) and bits of ground cover and flowers from my garden.  Here’s what I came up with, though some of them are really vases or planters.

Frozen Charlotte Flora - Charlotte's Blue Star Creeper - porcelain, ground cover, moss under glass dome Marie Cameron 2013

Charlotte’s Blue Star Creeper standing knee deep in a field of moss under a glass dome.

Frozen Charlotte Flora - Hands Up Pitcher - groundcover and porcelain Marie Cameron 2013

Hands Up Pitcher holds various antique porcelain dolls arms reaching out of the sedum.

Frozen Charlotte Flora - Hands Up Pitcher - groundcover and porcelain Marie Cameron 2013

I love the reaching gesture of both the sedum and the little flowerlike hands.

Baby Doll Blue planter - bisque, ground cover and insulated wire Marie Cameron 2013

Baby Doll Blue sprouts sedum as well, suspended by a wire, she can be planted or hung.

Frozen Charlotte Flora - Remembering 1 and 2 - porcelain and forget-me-nots Marie Cameron 2013

Frozen Charlotte Flora - Remembering 1 - forget-me-nots and porcelain Marie Cameron 2013                               Frozen Charlotte Flora - Remembering 1 - forget-me-nots and porcelain Marie Cameron 2013 square                               Frozen Charlotte Flora - Remembering 2 - forget-me-nots and porcelain - Marie Cameron 2013

Frozen Charlotte Flora Vases

Remember 1 and Remember 2 serve as little vases for forget-me-nots with a big presence for all of two to three inches!

I hope these little constructions don’t come across as too creepy. I feel it’s rather appropriate to use these figures in conjunction with earth and plants and flowers, referring to the history of these broken or imperfect dolls that were long buried because of their defects are at long last seeing the light and being played with.