HEALING DOLL STORY

HEALING DOLL
"Digesting My Life"
Doll Artist:  Barb Kobe

I had been having problems with my digestive tract.  This doll was my attempt at understanding my digestive system and applying symbols of digestion and healing to a doll.  I first made the form by positioning curly willow sticks together in a design that represented flow to me. After doing research on the shapes of the organs of the digestive system I recreated these shapes in fabric and sewed them to the doll in the appropriate positions.  I then put lines of beads along the energy meridians on the body on the front and on the back.  At this point my intuition suggested I put a yellow snake spiraling around the body, I thought this odd, but took it on as a challenge and did so.  I later read in one of Jeanne Achtenberg's book IMAGERY IN HEALING, that a yellow snake represented women's healing power, after the doll was completed. I entered this doll in an art show - she won Best of Show. I believe that dolls that represent a personal process have universal appeal.  Her creation also helped me to become conscious about what I took into my life and my body and how I was digesting food and information, eventually the problems healed and were transformed