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

Hans Bellmer made "The Doll" without a known date or medium, but it appears to be a photo of a sculptural object, like a fragmented mannequin. I love that Bellmer’s doll is more of a construction, a piecing together, than a traditional sculpture. The doll's surface has this strange, fleshy color, almost like it's been bruised. The limbs and torso are made up of these bulbous forms, like a body being built, but never quite finished. It reminds me of some of Louise Bourgeois's soft sculptures, but with a darker edge. Take the hair, for example, splayed out in a fan like a halo, but it also seems like it could turn into something monstrous. I keep thinking about how Bellmer was playing with ideas of the body, sexuality, and control. It's unsettling, sure, but it's also incredibly powerful in its vulnerability. Art doesn't always have to be pretty; sometimes it needs to be a little twisted to make us see the world differently.