A Guelph-based artist has taken the inspiration she received over her lifetime from women of pop and rock music and created a series of dolls featuring some of their most iconic looks.
Alisa McRonald is currently showing her Ladystar: My Jukebox Heroines exhibit at Capacity 3 Gallery, located at Boarding House Arts on Dublin Street.
The exhibit is comprised of 18 paper mâché dolls of musicians from the 1970's, 80's and 90's, each with a hand-made outfit showing off an iconic look by that artist.
McRonald said she drew inspiration in her life and art from these women musicians over the years and drawing on the DYI — or do-it-yourself — ethic of the 90's.
“The punk and DIY movement, especially fuelled by women, gave me more confidence to be brave enough to do things and also to express myself creatively in the way that I dress and behave,” she said.
McRonald was a teenager in the late 1980's and early 90s, but her aunts introduced her to a whole other generation of glam rock and punk artists from the 1970's and early 80's.
“I would always be looking through their record collections,” said McRonald.
Artists featured in the exhibit include Annie Lennox of Eurythmics, Patti Smith, Debbie Harry of Blondie, Sonic Youth’s Kim Gordon and Kate Bush, among others.
In total, McRonald earmarked about 80 artists she would like to eventually feature in the ongoing series.
Each doll took a lot of planning, followed by about seven hours of paper mâché, stitching and painting to finish.
“I was trying to find iconic outfits they would wear and then trying to find fabric remnants or going to the fabric store with a list,” McRonald said.
Capacity 3 Gallery is located under a stairwell on the main floor of Boarding House Arts.
“It’s a small space, but a mighty space. It’s very bright. I think it’s great for this kind of smaller work. It feels like you’re in a private room,” said McRonald.
The show opened Saturday and McRonald said a lot of people came through — about three at a time due to the size of the venue.
The exhibit runs until Oct. 14, after which McRonald will decide what she wants to do next with the project.
“Ultimately, yes they are for sale, but I would like to show them as a group at least a couple of times,” she said.
