LEARNED HOW TO MAKE A DIFFERENT KIND OF DOLL. THIS ARE TRADITIONAL PAPER MACHE DOLLS FROM MEXICO DOLLS ARE A SYMBOL OF PERFECTION. THESE LUPITA’S ARE ANYTHING BUT. I REALLY FOUND SO MUCH BEAUTY IN THESE DOLLS IN THE SENSE THAT THEY WERE NOT PERFECT. THEY DID NOT HAVE UNREALISTIC PROPORTIONS. AND IT’S LIKE BARBIE DOLLS. LUPITA ARTIST RAMONA GARCIA WAS BORN IN CENTRAL MEXICO. THE DOLLS ORIGINATED IN THE CITY OF CELAYA, THE DAUGHTER OF FARM WORKERS MOVED TO SACRAMENTO WHEN SHE WAS 12 YEARS OLD, HAVING MIGRATED TO THE UNITED STATES AND KIND OF NOT SEEING ME REPRESENTED IN MY ENVIRONMENT AND ALSO NOT IN THE TOYS THAT I WAS PLAYING WITH. IT WAS VERY IMPORTANT WHEN I FOUND THIS DOLL, IT BECAME KIND OF A HEALING FOR ME. I ACTUALLY PICKED UP SOME BAD HABITS AND DEVELOP EATING DISORDERS AND THEN WHEN I WAS IN COLLEGE, I WAS WORKING WITH AN ART THERAPIST. AND SO THE REASON I CAME TO FIND A DOLL AGAIN IS BECAUSE SHE RECOMMENDED I FIND A CULTURAL OBJECT, BECAUSE A LOT OF WHAT I WAS GOING THROUGH WAS JUST THAT MISSING MY CULTURE AND FEELING, YOU KNOW, THAT I’M NOT CONNECTED. THESE DELICATE LUPITA’S REPRESENT MEXICAN HISTORY AS A SYMBOL OF STRENGTH. THE ARTISANS OF THE AREA BEGAN MAKING DIGITALS DURING THE TIME OF THE MEXICAN REVOLUTION, WHEN GARCIA TRAVELED BACK TO HER HOMETOWN TO LEARN THE ART OF LUPITA, MAKING FROM ONE OF THE FEW FAMILIES, STILL MAKING THEM IN MEXICO TODAY. THIS IS MY MAYA ESTRADA, JUANITA ROMERO. SHE IS THE ARTISAN THAT I INITIALLY FOUND AND WORK WITH AND THE ONE THAT TAUGHT ME EVERYTHING ABOUT THE PAPIER MACHÉ DOLLS, THE TRADITION AND WHERE IT COMES FROM, HOW IT’S MADE. NOW SHE’S TEACHING YOUNG GIRLS AND WOMEN IN SACRAMENTO HOW TO MAKE THE DOLLS IN HOPES THEY FIND BEAUTY IN THEIR OWN IMPERFECTIONS. THEY HAVE DENSITY. THE MARKS MADE BY THE ARTISANS ARE NOT PERFECT LINES. AND SO THAT’S ONE. I THINK ONE OF THE THINGS THAT THIS DOLLS TEACHES US THAT IT’S YOU DON’T HAVE TO
Paper, water, flour and salt: Artist teaches how to make traditional Mexican dolls
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Updated: 7:55 PM CDT Oct 2, 2023
Thanks to the hit movie "Barbie," dolls are everywhere right now. But not everyone looks like the dolls they see on the shelf. One artist in California said that's why she learned how to make a different kind of doll.Dolls have often been associated as a symbol of perfection. But "Lupita" dolls, originating from Central Mexico, are anything but. Lupita artist Ramona Garcia was born in Central Mexico. The daughter of farmworkers moved to Sacramento, California, when she was 12 years old."I really found so much beauty in these dolls in the sense that they were not perfect. They didn't have unrealistic proportions," Garcia said. "Having migrated to the United States, and not seeing me represented in my environment and also not in the toys that I was playing with, it was important when I found this doll. It became healing for me."The dolls are made with paper, and a glue made of flour, water, and salt. The paper and glue are layered on top of a traditional mold, similar to how piñatas are made. The technique is similar to papier-mâché: Once the mold is dry, Garcia cuts through the layers and pieces it back together. For Garcia, the dolls hold a special meaning."I actually picked up some bad habits and developed eating disorders," Garcia said. "When I was in college, I was working with an art therapist, so the reason I came to find the doll again is because she recommended a cultural object because a lot of what I was going through was missing my culture and feeling that I'm not connected." The delicate Lupitas also represent Mexican history as a symbol of strength. The artists of Celaya, where the dolls were first made, began making the dolls during the time of the Mexican Revolution when families couldn't afford plastic or ceramic dolls that rose to popularity during that time.Garcia traveled back to her hometown to learn the art of Lupita-making from one of the few families still making them in Mexico today. She says her maestra — it means "teacher" — Juanita Romero took Garcia under her wing and taught her everything about the dolls: the traditions, where they come from, and how they're made.She's now teaching young girls and women in Sacramento how to make the dolls in hopes they find beauty in their own imperfections."The dolls have dents and marks made by the artisans. There are not perfect lines, and I think that’s one of the things the dolls teach us," Garcia said. "You don’t have to be perfect."Learn more about the Lupita workshops here.
Thanks to the hit movie "Barbie," dolls are everywhere right now. But not everyone looks like the dolls they see on the shelf. One artist in California said that's why she learned how to make a different kind of doll.
Dolls have often been associated as a symbol of perfection. But "Lupita" dolls, originating from Central Mexico, are anything but. Lupita artist Ramona Garcia was born in Central Mexico. The daughter of farmworkers moved to Sacramento, California, when she was 12 years old.
"I really found so much beauty in these dolls in the sense that they were not perfect. They didn't have unrealistic proportions," Garcia said. "Having migrated to the United States, and not seeing me represented in my environment and also not in the toys that I was playing with, it was important when I found this doll. It became healing for me."
The dolls are made with paper, and a glue made of flour, water, and salt. The paper and glue are layered on top of a traditional mold, similar to how piñatas are made. The technique is similar to papier-mâché: Once the mold is dry, Garcia cuts through the layers and pieces it back together.
For Garcia, the dolls hold a special meaning.
"I actually picked up some bad habits and developed eating disorders," Garcia said. "When I was in college, I was working with an art therapist, so the reason I came to find the doll again is because she recommended a cultural object because a lot of what I was going through was missing my culture and feeling that I'm not connected."
The delicate Lupitas also represent Mexican history as a symbol of strength. The artists of Celaya, where the dolls were first made, began making the dolls during the time of the Mexican Revolution when families couldn't afford plastic or ceramic dolls that rose to popularity during that time.
Garcia traveled back to her hometown to learn the art of Lupita-making from one of the few families still making them in Mexico today. She says her maestra — it means "teacher" — Juanita Romero took Garcia under her wing and taught her everything about the dolls: the traditions, where they come from, and how they're made.
She's now teaching young girls and women in Sacramento how to make the dolls in hopes they find beauty in their own imperfections.
"The dolls have dents and marks made by the artisans. There are not perfect lines, and I think that’s one of the things the dolls teach us," Garcia said. "You don’t have to be perfect."
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