Raquel Paiewonsky

Using commercially manufactured baby dolls considered at once

precious yet expendable, Dominican artist Raquel Paiewonsky

explores ingrained cultural stereotypes about femininity and race.

In this dress/sculpture from a series of ten, the simple shape of

the garment signifies the idea of a woman. Countless dolls covering

the surface of the dress have skin tones that range from white to

dark brown, representing the transracial origins of the Dominican

and wider Caribbean population and fertility in general. The artist

had difficulty finding brown-skinned dolls to balance the number

of white ones, underscoring persistent racial hierarchies.