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All dolled up at the customs house

Anyone whose treasured childhood possessions include Cindy, Barbie, Tressie or Tiny Tears are being asked to take them to The Customs House in South Shields as part of an exhibition happening later this year.

The Jack That Didn’t Fit The Box features the work of South Tyneside artist Jacquie Boyd and is a personal reflection of her Catholic upbringing and the secular influences of her childhood. The characters in Jacquie’s paintings often have doll-like faces and as part of the exhibition anyone with dolls are being asked to loan them for the duration.

Esen Kaya, Visual Arts Development Office at The Customs House, said: “The central focus of the exhibition will be a doll installation and therefore we would like local people to lend us their dolls. “They can be any shape or size and the more we acquire, the bigger and better the installation can be. We only want to borrow the dolls for the exhibition and each of them will be labelled and returned to their owner unharmed at the end.”

Jacquie will be working at The Customs House on an art installation in advance of the exhibition itself, which will feature sculpture, collages, paintings and video.

The residency will run in the Sanford Goudie Gallery at The Customs House from June 15 to July 13 after which The Jack That Didn’t Fit The Box exhibition will open from July 19 to August 17. Anyone who has dolls to lend is asked to contact Esen at The Customs House on 0191 454 5450.

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Ruth Mitchell .