Art doll making

Attention to detail

Recalling the first time she saw her new dolls, Thinh Da (21 years old this year) was extremely surprised, because unlike other dolls, her dolls had spherical joints, with elastic bands connecting the joints inside.

Thinh Da guides a child how to make a doll in his own style.

This design allows the doll to flexibly adjust its joints, making it very convenient for standing and sitting. However, the price of this type of doll is very high, some cost up to over 1,000 USD. Seeing that the price was beyond his reach, Thinh Da began to research and discovered that he could use art clay (priced at only 70,000-80,000 VND/piece) to design and create this type of doll.

After 8 years from the first crude and incomplete product, now Thinh Da dolls have been classified into the high-end segment. Buyers are no longer those who want to play with dolls purely, but mostly those who want to own handmade works of art. Thinh Da dolls are now very diverse and especially no two are alike, each product comes from a separate inspiration and passion, takes a lot of effort to make, some take a whole year to complete.

Handmade dolls require a lot of meticulousness: hair is made of goat, sheep, camel hair because it is soft, drooping, and flat like human hair; each finger joint is also shaped from porcelain, clay... For shoe and clothing details, Thinh Da taught himself to draw patterns and sew by hand. Dolls have many small, fragile details, which can break at the slightest touch, so the transportation from Ho Chi Minh City to the kiln in Dong Nai must be extremely careful. Then the firing process requires stability, so that the joints are even, the doll moves smoothly, or the firing must be done so that the porcelain is completely clean, bright, and free of tiny traces of dust...

“There are no predecessors in this subject, nor are there any online guides. My experience is all from failures. There are few people pursuing this profession, and I have no friends to share with. There were times when I encountered obstacles and was discouraged, thinking about giving up, but then I looked back at my previous efforts and pushed myself to continue my journey,” Thinh Da shared.

Dolls bring Vietnamese culture far and wide

Once, a foreign friend asked: "Do you have any traditional dolls in Vietnam?", Thinh Da was startled and blamed himself: "I am someone who makes all kinds of dolls, but I still haven't thought of this!" Referring to the old paintings of artist Mai Trung Thu, Thinh Da designed a new type of doll with the criteria of being rustic, not extravagant or elaborate in makeup... but still detailed and neat. The doll's facial features are hand-painted to depict the typical features of the Vietnamese people. The doll's clothes are based on the models of princes and princesses of the Nguyen Dynasty with patterns redesigned from the original to fit the small size of the doll. The fabrics used must also be pure Vietnamese, such as Ha Dong silk or My A silk.

It took more than a year to launch a product with a strong Vietnamese tradition, and the doll quickly attracted customers from everywhere: There were international tourists who wanted to collect art dolls with a strong Vietnamese tradition, and there were overseas Vietnamese who wanted to preserve the image of their homeland in a faraway land... What impressed Thinh Da the most was a customer in the US who wanted to order a doll with a strong Vietnamese character. Notably, this customer was a young female who was visually impaired.

“At first, I was so surprised that I didn’t believe it, thinking it was a scam. But then when I found out that she was a doll collector and wanted a Vietnamese product, I asked a friend from the blind association to write a letter in Braille, thanking her and describing all the details of the doll that were difficult to feel with my hands. There were also stories about related Vietnamese culture. My friend was very touched and said that he had heard a lot about Vietnam, but this was the first time he had such close contact with Vietnamese culture, feeling like he had a Vietnamese friend by his side. And he ordered a larger doll to add to his collection,” Thinh Da shared.

In today’s integration flow, creations like Thinh Da’s art dolls show that youth’s strength lies not only in daring to take on challenges but also in the desire to preserve and spread national culture. You have contributed to opening more doors for international friends to understand and appreciate Vietnamese identity through unique forms, seemingly small but full of moving power.

KIND HEART

Source: https://www.sggp.org.vn/nghe-nan-bup-be-nghe-thuat-post811811.html