Textile Artist Anouk Pantovola Crafts Ghost Dolls Rising Out Of Teapots
Based in the Netherlands and working from home while living with her two dogs, Anouk Pantovola is a dollmaker and mixed media artist whose main focus is on storytelling. Her bio reads, ‘Homespun Mythologies and Magical Imaginings’, a description she attempts to live up to with each of her mystical creations.
In a statement, Pantovola claims, “I believe the ancient stories, the old Fairytales, the Legends and Myths, are the soul fibres that connect us to a deeper meaning, our past, to the world and to each other and I am doing my part in continuing the weave with my personal threads. In my work I love to use time-worn materials such as antique textiles, handmade lace and special objects from my collection. The aged qualities of old materials add an extra layer to the work for me, they already hold memories of their own and I like the idea of bringing these into the world I create.”
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In an interview with DeMilked, Pantovola explained how she got into this particular form of artistry originally, “I have always created dolls, puppets and theatres since early childhood. In 2015, after years of working in theatre arts and music I was living on a narrowboat in London with very little space and I remembered creating these small treasures as a child. The memory sparked a creative inspiration and ‘Pantovola’ was born.”
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Further elaborating on the inspirations that influenced her to pursue this particular art form, Pantovola said, “Textile is a very versatile material, often associated with the feminine arts and crafts. I particularly love to work with old fabrics that hold memories and stories of their own. I collect antique lace and all kinds of old fabric materials that I will later use in my work. Storytelling is at the root of all I create and textiles have offered me a way to tell these stories in a very tactile way. I don’t like hard and rough materials, I prefer the softer textures of textiles. It also provides me with an ideal surface to paint on. turning the dolls and sculptures into a kind of ‘three dimensional’ paintings with lots of shape and texture.”
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Pantovola provided some insight as to her creative process when crafting these particular designs and divulged that she’s drawn to sculpting mysterious elements. “There are many stories developing in my mind, creatures and landscapes, sort of personal mythologies, fairy tales. I bring these to life through my sculptures and dolls. I will have a particular story or creature in mind, and I start by creating the basic form in cotton, which I firmly stuff with poly stuffing. This creates the surface to paint on, and later I will often add more textiles, different textures and small items that add to the character and story. Many times, I work in collections, so I will create several pieces that belong to the same realm and theme, making more complete groups of works that are in a narrative relation together. I do not sketch or use patterns; my process is very intuitive, and I like to let each piece speak for itself, my hands simply following the journey without too much rational thought or planning.”
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