Secret Heart Poem Doll

Challenge materials sent to me a while back included poem pages from Brian Andreas' book "Still Mostly True". I used one of the poems (Secret Heart) in the making of this doll.

Secret Heart picks up a truism we've probably all had tossed our way at some point, about the secret being in your heart and not in your eye. (St. Exupery packaged it best of all in "The Little Prince".) I collaged the poem onto the dolls' body.

Click on the images to see larger versions.

The doll gazes off into the distance. Both her faraway gaze and the space between her head and heart are intentional and underline the schism many people experience between the desire for personal authenticity and the need to bow to outward demands.

The arms and legs are covered in sheet music and vintage book text. As well as being among my favorite materials, they also help express another truism: that each of us is composed of words and music (and art and emotions and desires) that define who we are but that we can't always show, or are not always seen. Another truism? The safest place to hide something can be in full view. People rarely look at each other to see who is "at home" in a body, and they don't expect the truth to be visible.

Contemplating the doll made me wonder what would happen if we were to write our thoughts on our skin or on our clothing -- if we were to use our bodies as a changing canvas, which we do in ways, of course, but not as intentionally as I mean it. Maybe we should create a day to do just that (but for heavens sake, don't tell Hallmark).

Brian Andreas - Story People
http://www.storypeople.com/