Swedish artist Nattmaran has channeled her fascination for folklore into Mara Creatures, her BJD company. The first doll released is named Ramunder, a 60cm tall Troll. He is available now for pre-order in two resin colors, mull (tan) and Ljung (light purple), until October 27th.
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Q: To start, can you tell me a little bit about yourself? Do you have any art training for example or are you self-taught?
A: I come from a family with a lot of creative people, especially musicians. So I have always been encouraged when it comes to art. I studied art in high school, drawing, painting, photography, and sculpting, especially ceramics was something I loved back then, and I even did some clay trolls then.
After High school, I went to university and studied illustrations and comics for two years, and worked as an illustrator for some years. After that, I did two years at a vocational university studying final arts and graphic design, and I have been working as a designer for 8 years until recently. Now I’m a university teacher that teaches Information and graphic design. So I guess you can say that I am sort of trained but also self-taught. I had the basics with me.
Q: How did you become interested in creating dolls? Why resin dolls?
A: I remember seeing a photo of a BJD on Deviant art back in the day and I was stunned, it was my first encounter with a BJD. I did not get into the hobby then but I started to draw portraits that had the aesthetics of BJD dolls, and I did that for some time. I think what made me interested in resin dolls is the character-building you can do. When I studied comics and made my own stories and worlds, character design was always the best part.
I have always felt that the knowledge I have and everything I enjoy doing can be combined in making BJDs, sketching, character design, sculpting, photography. The problem solving when constructing a doll and especially the joints is way more fun than I had ever guessed. And I had a lot to figure out when making my troll design with his hunched-over body and bent knees.
I have always been the type of person that likes to do everything myself, so when I realized that I could build a doll myself I was hooked. I started to make my first doll even before I bought my first resin doll.
Q: How did you decide on Swedish folklore for your inspiration?
A: I have always had this fascination with Swedish folklore. I began to draw trolls when I was 16 years old, and I also read everything I could get my hands on about folklore and was possessed with the art of folklore, especially the Swedish artist John Bauer who had a huge impact on me (I actually live only 40km from where he lived). Fairytales are fun too of course, but folklore is more ‘real’. When you start to read about it, you realize that people that lived not even that long ago, actually adjusted their ways of living after the creatures in the folklore, because they knew that they existed, and you did not want to get on their bad side. I don’t know why this is so intriguing for me, but I guess that I envy that they believed in them so much. I have always loved the fact that people thought that they lived with these creatures so close. The trolls were in the forest, Näcken was in the river, and you had a Tomte at your farm looking after your property and your animals. Midsummer was a night of magic and rituals. Magic was everywhere and everyone believed it. So, I guess I have always had some desire to make folklore creatures like trolls come to life and to be remembered. If I can sculpt them, I can take them out to the forest, capture them in photos, and make them come to life. So maybe this is my way of keeping their memory alive in our world.
Q: Ramunder is a very impressive first doll! I was surprised by the size of him. Was he sculpted by hand or designed in a computer program?
A: Thank you! When I started the project I was very determined that I wanted a big troll, in my mind, they are huge creatures. He is sculpted all by hand in paper clay, a lot of clay. But he is a kind of trial and error project, I’ve learned so much when making him. I am tempted to try out digital sculpting too, especially for joints, functional parts, and such, and combine the techniques.
Q: How much does the completed doll weigh? How well does he stand and pose?
A: He weighs 4 kg (8.8 lbs) in his resin form, so he is a big one. He stands fine, but standing poses are limited compared to a regular doll with straight legs of course. The upper body weighs quite a lot compared to the lower body as well. He has silicon balls inserted in the hip sockets to help with the friction a bit. I’m a perfectionist to the core, and I did make him, so I see things in the design that annoys me, haha. But I have been picky with the posing before sending him off to the caster. When strung right, you can pose the tail pretty well too. He has mobility joints in his thighs so that he can sit like a proper troll with his legs crossed, an important feature in my opinion.
Q: What other creatures are you hoping to make? Will they all be similar in size?
A: Oh, I have been trying to resist all the urges to make a new doll, to force myself to finish this. But, I have a pile of sketchbooks filled with new designs and ideas, and some dolls in the making too. So I really hope I can make more dolls in the future.
One of them is a small chubby troll, about 16-20 cm tall. So I hope I can finish that one for example. It’s very nice to make a smaller doll after this huge project and it’s so much faster and cheaper too. I really want to make new SD-sized trolls too, both male and female. I have gotten many new ideas over the years that I want to try out. Another folklore creature that I want to make is the ‘Skogsrå’ it’s kind of a woman forest nymph. I have also been tempted to make a witch. I have a big fascination with nordic black metal music aesthetics, and I’m very inspired by that. The ideas are many, so we will see. I’d like all kinds of sizes and creatures and new challenges.
Q: Is Mara Creatures a 1-person business? Did you design the website as well?
A: Yes, it’s only me, it’s still a hobby project on the side of my job so I do it for fun. Yes, I made the website too, it’s WordPress-based, so quite easy to make, and we teach it at my university. Since I’m a graphic designer focused on printed products, I also do all the design for the box, COA, and things like that for the delivery. And I am really excited about this, and I have a lot of ideas. It’s a great excuse to visit my local print house as well and to make pretty packaging. The last but very important final touches.
Q: Is there something you would like to add?
A: One thing that has been on my mind since this preorder began is, now that I am trying my hand at handling my own doll brand and everything around the actual doll making, my respect for all the one-person brands out there is even bigger than before. They are super-humans and I’m so impressed with all of them. Homages to all their hard work and dedication!
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