A talented woman has unveiled her incredibly lifelike clay dolls, leaving people astonished by their realism. Victoria Care, a 27-year-old from Toronto, Canada, developed an interest in toys at a young age when her mother gifted her a doll. When the doll unexpectedly broke, she was devastated. To alleviate her heartache, she took matters into her own hands and embarked on creating her own replacement, and the rest is history.
Victoria now dedicates herself to creating dolls that embrace facial differences and represent various health conditions, promoting inclusivity. Using polymer clay, she meticulously sculpts each doll, drawing inspiration from her own baby pictures, as well as images provided by friends and family. These unique creations are sold as one-of-a-kind toys or produced in vinyl to reach a global audience.
While some of her miniature dolls can be completed within a few months, crafting the larger dolls may take up to three years, depending on their size and complexity. Victoria's attention to detail and commitment to accuracy ensure that each doll authentically represents the intended condition or characteristic.
"I started creating dolls with various health conditions because I believed it was crucial to represent all individuals in dolls," Victoria explains.
"Dolls have always been used as symbols of perfection, but I believe that we are all perfect just the way we are. Some of these dolls are the result of months dedicated to researching a specific condition and utilizing my creativity to sculpt the qualities I wanted the doll to possess, aiming for an ethically inclusive representation as much as possible.
"I take joy in showcasing expressions that people can relate to through dolls with different conditions, restoring personality and humanity to these often dehumanized conditions simply because they are different.
"I have made dolls with Down syndrome, dwarfism, and craniofacial duplications. My dolls serve as a means to explore and study other conditions, enabling me to raise awareness and spread understanding."
She adds, "My main goal in life is to represent as many conditions as I can. I take pleasure in dressing them just like any mother would dress their child, emphasizing that they are equally worthy of celebration and valued as precious lives.
"After I have used an outfit, I usually donate the clothing to mothers and friends so they can dress their beautiful babies."
Victoria faced job loss during the pandemic but was able to transform her craft into a full-time career. Alongside her doll-making endeavors, she also works part-time in administration and teaches art to children. She finds the process of making dolls to be extremely relaxing, even describing it as therapeutic during her younger years.
Nowadays, she keeps cabinets filled with her older dolls, using them as a way to track her progress and compare them to her recent creations, observing how her sculpting skills have improved over time.
Recently, the doll maker showcased the fruits of her labor on TikTok, and one particular post featuring a doll with craniofacial duplication went viral with over 106 million views. The caption of the post read, "It doesn't matter how long you live, every life deserves love and appreciation."
The video, showcasing a baby doll with two fused heads, has garnered 4.6 million likes, leaving many viewers still in disbelief that the doll is not a genuine newborn but a meticulously crafted toy.
"One person commented, 'Who else thought the baby was real at first?' Another viewer added, 'Omg... I thought it was a real baby.'
Regarding the reactions, Victoria says, 'Although I have made many videos explaining why I make them and that they are dolls, a lot of people think they are real. I mostly receive positive comments, but there are some people who aren't very supportive. I understand that for some, it's very hard to embrace a new outlook when society has portrayed differences in such an ugly light for years.'
'My family and friends are very supportive of my dolls and my message, as it took me years to show them what my main goal in making them was. My mother loves to knit and crochet outfits for them, and my father helps me make props to display them.'
Victoria charges £4,000 for each personalized doll and typically receives six orders per month. She is now fully booked through the end of the year. While she sells handmade dolls and earns income from them, she also donates them and contributes the revenue to causes that promote awareness.
She concludes, 'I hope to spread the message that everyone is beautiful and deserves to be celebrated no matter who they are or how they were born.'"
