The Doll (Maquette for The Doll's Games) 1938

Hans Bellmer made The Doll, a maquette for The Doll’s Games, but when and with what, remains a mystery that's part of its power. The doll itself is made of segmented parts, as though assembled from a kit, or maybe it grew this way. The colours are strange; milky skin with hints of pink. The velvety texture of the doll contrasts sharply with the billowing sheets on which it lies. It feels as though every element of the doll is slightly off, and yet, somehow, resolved. Take those small brown balls, are they eyes? Are they weights? The image feels like it exists within a lineage of work by artists like Louise Bourgeois, who used figuration to explore difficult and uncomfortable subjects. In the end, I think it is impossible to know exactly what it means, but what remains is a testament to the artist's willingness to embrace ambiguity and resist easy answers.