Horribly disfigured porcelain dolls

Jessica Harrison's wounded porcelain dolls depict china maidens with horrible, disfiguring injuries. The gore and the saccharine sweetness make quite a counterpoint.

Jessica Harrison (via Neatorama)

I write books. My latest is a YA science fiction novel called Homeland (it's the sequel to Little Brother). More books: Rapture of the Nerds (a novel, with Charlie Stross); With a Little Help (short stories); and The Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow (novella and nonfic). I speak all over the place and I tweet and tumble, too.

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Anonymous

Those are pretty interesting!
Hexjumper

Unicorn chaser….?

I just really don’t know what, like, the _point_ of these are. It’s like “Oh, how cute, let me get a closer loBLEAAAAAAAAARGGGH.”

Was somebody saying “I really like Victorian porcelain figures, and I also really like the Saw movies, and I’d like to not have to turn my head to see each in turn”?
operator99

Pride and Prejudice and Zombies is the vibe I’m getting here.
buboes_in_diplopia

This is my favorite type of art, the juxtaposition of two radically different concepts to create a “WTF” response. It’s like anarchy of art.
PurityObscurity

It would be even better if the reclining doll had a bloody toe.
allenbukoff

This is so BoingBoing and so Cory BoingBoing.
Anonymous

Oddly familiar to Justin Novak’s work entitled Disfigurines.

http://blogs.eciad.ca/justinnovak/archive/disfigurines/
Felan

Another artist working in a similar idiom is Shary Boyle, who has an excellent solo show on right now at the Art Gallery of Ontario in Toronto.

http://www.sharyboyle.com/sculpture-A.htm

Personally, I find Boyle’s work more interesting than Harrison’s and Novak’s – it’s more conceptually rigorous, going beyond simple juxtaposition, as well as technically immaculate. But regardless of preference, it’s neat to see all three in context of one another.
Anonymous

Shary Boyle is the Canadian queen of this stuff. Although, her work is more thoroughly realized I think.
http://www.sharyboyle.com/
lecti

I think the one on the left goes a bit beyond “horribly disfigured.”
ransom notes

I love these!! I took the time to look through her entire website and her work from previous years is equally impressive. I am quite fond of her human flesh draped miniature furniture.

thank you for sharing this Cory.

and I appreciate the the anon post providing the definition “cognitive dissonance” – it just described my whole life. :-J
Hell’s Donut House

My sister proudly displays in her house a giant cabinet of “Precious Moments” figurines. What I wouldn’t give to sneak one of these in.
Anonymous

It’s called cognitive dissonance. The contrast makes you attracted to it. Now you know. ;)
Anonymous

I hate to be the stoner of the bunch, but looking at the one on the left, WHat immediately jumps to mind is turning that beauty into a bong, high-school-art-class style. Couldn’t you just picture some kind bud glowing in her empty head, the vapors travelling down her spinal column [nervous-system pathway] and into your lungs! haha…. hack!
Anonymous

Hexjumper, you just answered you own question.

Its about the juxtaposition of gore and classical porcelain niceness and the reactions it provokes.