Part of Sirocco's Master Artist Series, this well-produced tape covers the career of middle-Tennessee doll artist Helen Bullard, outlining her growth as an Appalachian handicraft practitioner, author, leader in promoting dolls as art, and founder of the National Institute of American Doll Artists. Based on her papers, diaries, unpublished autobiography, journal articles, and photographs, and including interviews with her daughter and some of her contemporaries, this video provides many visual examples of her work, which range from her earliest efforts at the age of 47 (a mountain girl named Miss Holly created in 1949) to her most minimalist-yet-sophisticated sculptures of folk families at the age of 80 and every permutation in between, including a set of dolls representing nine generations of Bullards, a 9 ft.-plus outdoor sculpture, and dolls based on Gertrude Stein. Long stuck in the shadow of her second husband, to whom she served as "retainer" for his somewhat checkered literary career while raising three girls, Bullard longed for a means of achieving financial security, an outlet for her creative urges, and a "form of self-orchestrated psychotherapy": doll-making fit the bill perfectly on all counts. Though I'd never heard of Helen Bullard before viewing this comprehensive homage, I am certainly a fan now, although I would have appreciated some discussion of how her doll's clothing was constructed and what materials were used for their painted features. Despite this misstep, this production is highly recommended for folk art, doll, and Tennessee collections. Aud: C, P. (K. Glaser)
Helen Bullard: A Sophisticated Primitive
(2000) 73 min. $39.95. Sirocco Productions. Color cover. ISBN: 1-881890-25-2. Vol. 16, Issue 1
Helen Bullard: A Sophisticated Primitive
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