Sculptural dolls of Virginia Ropars

Virginia Ropars was born in the northwest of France (Brittany region) in 1976.

The young Virginia first expressed her creative universe in drawing. Trained as a graphic designer, she worked as a 2D/3D graphic artist in the video game industry and animated TV series.

Soon, the idea of sculpting characters with her own hands completely captivated the artist.

Her magical, feminine images, created from polymer clay and decorative materials, live in the space between an art doll, sculpture and clothing design.

The artist's characters make a frightening impression on some viewers, many see darkness in her works.

Virginia herself explains: "The positive only makes sense when there is a negative - darkness. My characters are somewhere in the middle. I think it's like nature; it's not good or bad, it's something else, wild, situated between opposing poles, and choosing its own path.

The master begins to work on the image with sculpting the head, considering each facial feature as something separate, with its own expressive potential.

Working on the character. Details.

Working on the character. Details.

Virginia Ropars began her creative career with the creation of more traditional dolls. As her style began to drift into the realm of whimsical beauty, many people stopped following her work. However, this did not bother the artist in the least.

Virginia says, “Try to be yourself. Don't try to imitate. Find your own way of doing things, even if it seems useless to you. If it works out well in the end, people will notice and love you. ”

Historical reference:

Since 2004, Virginia has been exhibiting her work in various European countries, as well as at exhibitions in the USA and Russia.

Her works have been published in many magazines and print media around the world.

The work on the character of Jack, the hero of American artist Brom's book 'tomboy', was awarded the Spectrum 19 Gold Award, in 2012.

In 2013, Jack won the Spectrum 20 Gold Award, in the Acanthophis III category

Along with her personal work, Virginia collaborates with other illustrators such as Brian Froud, Olivier Ledroix, Barbara Canepa, Jean-Sebastian Rossbach, Brom, bringing to life the voluminous images that were born in their works.

​Virginia shares her thoughts:

“Today I do not participate much in exhibitions and do not create as many sculptures as I used to. I rarely see my works, they quickly fly to collectors. "

"I would love to invite you to visit my workshop in France (Brittany). The main thing is to make yourself known in advance. It may happen that I won't have anything to show you" jokes the author.

"I don't discount my work because buying one of my characters is buying a unique one. You are paying for the time, imagination and technical skills behind the work. By paying the price I ask, you are helping me to improve my craftsmanship. For which I am deeply grateful.

"The cost of my work is a combination of factors. I have a price scale. I refer to it when I create something special, such as a non-standard size, more expensive material and important technical innovations."

“I rarely take work to order, due to lack of time. But if you have interesting ideas, we will definitely discuss them. In my opinion, the more pleasure I get from my work, the better the result. I never repeat my characters. I'm not interested in this. And I cannot work without inspiration ”.

Photos taken from open sources on the Internet

With love and respect, Tatiana Kalinina

@tatakalinyshka