Twin sisters, professional artists and fashion designers Ekaterina and Elena Popovy.
By combining their passion for fashion design and doll art, Ekaterina and Elena create small conceptual collections of 10 to 15 dolls a year.
An enormous amount of work is at the heart of each collection. First, an idea/emotion is born and the Popovys develop the project’s concept.
Called the “new wave of Russian art-doll designers,” the Popovy sisters have received numerous awards, such as Best Doll Master at the International Doll Salon in Moscow, the Haute Couture prize of Doll Magazine for Hathor of Cult project and many more.
Currently, girls are working on two interesting projects: exclusive dolls for Die Antwoord and for Mr. Jean Paul Gaultier.
They collaborated with the graphic artist Tokato Yamomoto, used fragments with texture in the photographs of Nick Knight.
from a series of flora.
Popovy Sisters about photography:
"Photography and our hobbies have always been inextricably linked. We started taking pictures early. Our dad was fond of photography. He photographed our family, nature, different subjects. We gladly participated in this. We constantly took pictures. Over time, we began taking pictures of our dolls during work, in different stages and environments. The photos became our second passion; the photos and dolls are inseparable in our creation. We perceived it as something more than just a photo of an object. Through the photo, the doll as a bud has revealed all its sides. We pay much attention to the posing of the doll. Sometimes it even seems that a doll is no longer an object, but a drawing. We have accumulated so many pictures that at one moment we thought about a separate direction in our art, about creating prints as a separate artwork."
Exploring to US market:
"We want to show the doll-something great from all sides. Extend the boundaries, highlight the details. To draw the attention of the public to the art of dolls and its spread to other types of art such as photography, the design of accessories, and costume design."
Ideas for upcoming show:
"We’re planning to place our dolls in a large space with photos showing them in detail magnified several times. We’ll sit in the center of the hall as in the window, busy working on the dolls, sewing them, etc., so that the viewer can see us at work in the process of creating new dolls. We are close and we can see much of the details and at the same time are inaccessible; it is impossible for us to approach and touch."
You can read full article at: http://www.huffingtonpost.com/entry/exclusive-interview-with-ekaterina-and-elena-popovy_us_596cf45ce4b05561da5a5978