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.