Barbara Koppang Lakeville
Artist Statement
Barbara Koppang has been an entrepreneur with multiple profit centers (a fancy way of saying that she has done many things in her life to make a living!) for nearly 26 years.
She has a degree in Elementary Education and Outdoor Education. She has done mostly jobs other than teaching full time...although she was a substitute teacher at various times in her life. She worked in institutions, group homes and schools with people with developmentally delays and disabilities. Working as a professional storyteller, childrens entertainer and a clown was a fun time in her life. Barbara learned to face paint and was on the Renaissance Festival circuit for many years...continuing to participate in the Minnesota Renaissance Festival and the Arizona Renaissance Festival to this day. She was a jewelry designer and made body adornments for Dragonwings.net. She learned traditional Anisanabe bead work and also some Dakota style bead work. This prompted her to create many pieces of bead work over the years. She raised one daughter with her husband (an important idea man and artist support for her business) and is in the process of raising another who came to her right before she turned 40 yrs. Barbara's life has been busy, unusual and never dull! Information about the dolls: I have been making art dolls professionally for about 4 years now. But I think that the skills I use to make my art dolls have been honed for nearly all my life. They are the synthesis of where I am in my life right now. Because each doll is the creation of a particular moment in my life, each of my dolls are one of a kind. When many of my artist friends were turning 40, 50 and 60 and beyond, I wanted to make a figure to symbolize what I saw in them. I saw a beauty and a passion in their eyes for what they created. I wanted to create a talisman of the every day goddess...a beauty beyond the imperfections of aging...a goddess that shone with happiness. The creations of artist Barbara Koppang express a connection to the spiritual aspects of life. Her favorite quote is from Leonard Cohen. “There is a crack in everything, that is how the light gets in”. Therefore, she loves making faces that have the “cracks” of everyday life sculpted into each one. But she also believes that the heart is where the light gets in, so each doll has a felt heart sewn into it. This serves as a reminder that the heart is the source of the light and a person’s true beauty. Each face and set of hands is sculpted out of cold porcelain, which is an air dry clay primarily used for miniatures. Since it is used unconventionally, it takes up to a week to dry. That requires the artist to continue to work on sculpting each little face until it is completely dry. Each of the faces has semi precious gemstone eyes. At the end of the process a patina of paint is applied to the face and hands and each is sealed to protect it. The bodies of the Oddest Goddess Art Dolls are made with recycled wool. Each body is hand stitched and needle sculpted. The artist adds vintage trims, beads, stones and other unique embellishments. They are stuffed with all the little bits and pieces of fabric, yarn and thread that Barbara has left over after making the bodies. This insures that nothing is wasted! Each doll is completed by sewing in a cloth tag on the bottom and a paper tag that is signed, numbered and dated by the artist. Barbara’s dolls are known for their color combination, details and whimsy! And each is one of a kind! |
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