Sylvie Elegance

The website for my business, Georgina Kelman :: Works on Paper, gets looked at by people all over the world and it's always a thrill to see that someone in say, India, has found you and spent time reading what you've put out in the ether that is the Internet. Generally, my website and blog visitors are "voyeurs", they come and look without leaving a comment, but every now and then I am contacted by someone with something really interesting to share.

Last week I received an enquiry from a boutique in Montreal who found me through the Art Deco Society of New York website. Sylvie Groh, is a native of France and trained at the Ecole Nationale des Beaux Arts de Nancy and the Ecole Supérieure de Design Industriel de Paris. She worked in Paris, emigrated to Canada, and eventually decided to pursue her dream and opened Sylvie Elegance Studio. Here she combines her talent in the fine art of porcelain doll making with a interest in fashion and interior design.

At first I wondered why a doll company was contacting me. After visiting her website and seeing the exquisite presentation of hand-made porcelain mannequins dressed in gorgeous period costumes and posed in dioramas reflecting the décor of the day, I realized that these are not merely dolls, but truly works of art. Each figure is fully articulated and meticulously finished with hair and hand-painted faces. But the real art is in the details. Sylvie has used her knowledge of Parisian fashion and design to re-create scenes and events from the Belle Epoque through the Jazz Age. The magic of Paul Poiret, Coco Chanel and Madelaine Vionnet is brought back to life in perfect detail by this 21st Century artisan. Her homage to the past is what keeps the Jazz Age alive for dreamers like me.