For as long as I can remember, I have liked to draw, glue, sculpt and, most of all, make doll-like objects. Once in school we were assigned to write about what we wanted to do when we grew up. I wrote I wanted to work at a doll factory painting faces and eyes. I believed that slight differences in brush strokes could magically change the facial expression of the doll. I graduated from the Moscow College of Fine Arts with a degree in restoration of icons and oil paintings, and worked as a freelance artist. In my spare time I quilted and explored dollmaking. After a few years I found that art dolls had become my major passion.

My first collection was created in 1982 and exhibited at various art shows in Moscow. I explored different materials and styles until I settled on a realistic style using air-drying clays. I enjoy the freedom of choice when working on each piece. The process of animating a piece of clay has always appealed to me; my aim is to express the doll’s character through the pose of the body and through the look in the eyes. I admire the diversity of human faces and forms, and create dolls that mix various cultures and ethnicities. I seek to make the figure timeless and universal. I am always trying to gain emotional depth in my work and make it speak without words as a way to communicate my deepest thoughts and feelings.