Artist Laurie Simmons has spent the last few years working with lifelike latex dolls, so it was perhaps a natural progression for her to graduate to the next – human – level, which was to be found in the spiritual home of extreme hobbyists, Japan. Hobby may not be the best description for the participants of cosplay (costume play), for although the name points to a pursuit for entertainment, some practitioners attach far more importance to the dressing-up activity than a mere game; often cosplayers adopt their alternate identities as a lifestyle.
Among the most dedicated cosplayers are those of the sub-genre Kigurumi, in which latex body suits and oversized heads are worn to affect a transformation into a “living doll”. The costumes’ wide-set eyes mean the “Kiggers” or “Dollers” often can’t see for themselves, and must be led around, but far from being a limiting experience, they often feel more liberated in their doll identities than their natural ones. Simmons’ two photographic series Kigurumi and Dollers are explorations of this phenomenon, which employ models, both male and female, dressed in the Kigurumi costume, prompting questions about our identity and how we present ourselves in the age of social media and the selfie. A third series, How We See, is concerned with surgically enhanced Japanese “doll girls”, and the anime convention of painting eerily-lifelike eyes onto closed eyelids. Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See runs until 28 April at Salon 94 Bowery, New York.
Installation View,
“Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See,”
Salon 94 Bowery, 2014
Laurie Simmons
Blue Hair/Red Belt/Blue Dress/Orange Room, 2014
Pigment print
Installation View,
“Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See,”
Salon 94 Bowery, 2014
Laurie Simmons
How We See/Look 1/Julia, 2014
Pigment print
Installation View,
“Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See,”
Salon 94 Bowery, 2014
Laurie Simmons
Redhead/Pink & Black Outfit/Orange Room, 2014
Pigment print
Laurie Simmons
Redhead/Red Dress/Selife, 2014
Pigment print
Installation View,
“Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See,”
Salon 94 Bowery, 2014
Installation View,
“Kigurumi, Dollers and How We See,”
Salon 94 Bowery, 2014
All images courtesy of the artist
and Salon 94, New York
