Welcome to Jenna Pan Dolls • Portfolio
“I’m a doll artist who also likes to make costumes, illustrations and puppets. I like to share my interests through the workshops I facilitate and the events I attend.
Making art has always been my way to interact with the world. Over time, it has become a link to my childhood, and a way to keep this spark alive, as time and responsibilities tend to make one forget that, once upon a time, they were able to experience the world in its most mystical and vivid form.
My craving for reviving all things gone, and a desire to see imaginary creatures come to life, have fuelled my art for decades now, and I hope it will for the foreseeable future.
The technique I mainly used is called doll customizing. The principle is to turn manufactured, mass-produced dolls, into unique pieces of art by modifying them from head to toes, giving them new features and clothes. This practice involves a whole range of skills, from painting to modeling and sewing, which makes every custom a fun new adventure. The feelings attached to old toys that have been abandoned, the nostalgia that may arise when looking at their shape, all of this resonates deeply in my practice.
I also like to work with upcycled fabrics and objects whenever I can. I enjoy playing with textures and materials I’m not always familiar with, and I often let them shape my ideas, sometimes redefine some of my projects.
Outside of doll-making, I’m interested in baking, learning Japanese and attending social groups. I also have an obsession for collecting cute notebooks that I am quite happy to fill with all sorts of shiny stickers and colourful tape. What can I say? I am easy to entertain.
My wish is to share the pleasure of making dolls with the world, and meet lovely people along the way.”