Artist Statement
I am retelling the stories of the American Girl dolls through self-portraiture. I wear costumes that I have constructed by hand, and photograph in locations that are historically accurate to the American Girl stories.
Process Statement
For each photograph, I painstakingly sew, weave, knit, and embroider costumes that exactly mimic the style and patterning of the American Girl versions.
According to the internet article, “What Your American Girl Doll Says About the Rest of Your Life,” the characteristics of artist Allison Welch are unmistakably similar to the dolls she had in childhood: “you wore glasses, liked books, were bad at math, and would concoct various schemes to get attention (Molly) … you also found yourself inexplicably drawn towards crafts like knitting, jam-making, and quilting (Kirsten) … and had a latent familiarity with Colonial Williamsburg (Felicity).” Recently, Welch has shown her work in Madison, Milwaukee, Portland (Oregon), and San Francisco, and internationally in the UK, Italy, Bosnia & Herzegovina, and Poland. She holds two positions in the University of Wisconsin-Madison Art Department, as both a Lecturer and Graduate Coordinator for the MA/MFA program.
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