Alexander Girard, wooden dolls

All week I struggled on what my Halloween costume would be and luckily my friend Scott Newlin came to my rescue. On his lunch break, Scott strolled by the Vitra Showroom and saw Alexander Girard’s colorful wooden dolls and suggested that a group of us attempt to create the partly delightful, partly ghastly company of dolls. I was completely game and relieved that I finally had a plan. Scott, his girlfriend Emily CM Anderson, my husband Mike Abbink made a date to create our costumes.

Originally Girard created and made the Wooden Dolls (1963) for his home in Santa Fe. The dolls that are in production today are based on the originals found in the Girard Estate held by Vitra Design Museum. Girard managed to inject an uninhibited use of color and a clever playfulness into modernism. He took inspiration from countries like Mexico and India where a tradition of handicraft still thrived, their processes, motifs and colors not yet threatened by an industrial culture. He made modernism fun! He is most noted for his textile treatments for Knoll that could be characterized by lyrical pattern making and bold colors.

We did make it to the Halloween shindig hosted by the incredibly gracious Mike Perry and Anna Wolf. Much fun was to be had. To see more of Anna’s Halloween pictures from the merry soirée. Here.