Of women, Girls and Dolls

Boundaries can be physical but also social or emotional. Social norms keep the structure of society stable. Crossing these norms causes unease and raises issues of inequality and gender expectations. These very colorful oil and acrylic paintings form a body of work done over several years since 2015. Ursula proceeds by layering, addition and subtraction, until an image emerges that appeals to her. They are generally done without models or photographs.  

In this series of paintings, women and girls are portrayed alongside dolls in all shapes and colors. Because these paintings tap into the inner self, it become obvious to the artist what she was experiencing only when looking at them over time. All the girls and women represent different facets of a personality with dual qualities of good nature and wickedness. The dolls and bunny dolls are an extension and expression of them. Dolls are thought of as girly and boring. But they can be so much more. They can be used to campaign for anything from political statements to sexual desire and femininity.

The bunny dolls are particularly uncanny and a recurring symbol in Ursula’s paintings. In the Middle Ages, the rabbit was often depicted in margins of illuminated books as causing bodily harm. The rabbit and bunny are such fluffy and lovable animals. Therefore, the more uncanny it is to depict them in the context of mischief and evil doing. In these paintings, women, girls and dolls do not conform to norms set by society.