Creepy Doll Things

Aside from photography, Clemens dabbled in many creative hobbies. Long before androids were on his radar he made traditional marionettes. These too had his signature aesthetic sensibilities. His work was very detailed, his marionettes featuring hand-carved faces with lifelike glass eyes.

One of his classic pieces, Grushenka, was a six foot tall russian doll. The outermost layer depicted a smiling blond woman with her hands clasped together as if in prayer. The layer just inside depicted what looked like the same woman, but with a less happy expression. Layer 3 was partially burned. The doll set was found in his studio after it was abandoned, and it’s not exactly clear if it being burned was an accident, or an intentional part of the piece.

It was found on his dinner table, with the paints still out and wood shavings beside it, as if he had just finished it, or was near finished. It’s known today as his last work.

on the outmost layer is a painting of a dark haired woman smiling with her eyes closed, as if in perfect piece. She’s dressed in a fine dress, holding a basket of flowers. What’s immediately unusual about this piece is the quality of the paint. while clemens was a skilled carpenter and industrial designer, it wasn’t previously known that he was a painter at all. This caused people to question of it was really his work. Perhaps it was something an artist friend had given him. Perhaps it was even the work of one of his models; so little are known about them.

The layer beneath depicted a nightmarish monster with fangs and tentacles. Inside that, the very center, was a painting of an idealized, flawless woman with a halo, reminiscent of renaissance paintings of Catholic saints.

This doll has been the subject of debate for a few reasons. The fact that it was left on his table almost made it seem like a goodbye note. Perhaps it was simple an art piece not meant to be interpreted, but that hasn’t stopped people from coming up with plenty of theories.

The most popular theory is that the doll was a representation of Angelica, one of his models. The various layers of the doll might represent aspects of Angelica as he saw them, or perhaps stages in their relationship.

Perhaps it is just an art piece, but it holds such sway over the imagination because, like much of its work, it seems at once tender and caring, and at the same time, very unsettling. All his work has an almost insidious quality: it’s beautiful, and while there’s nothing overtly horrific about it, one can’t help but feel unsettled after looking at it.

One critic simply said, “all his pieces are unique, but there’s an obvious common thread. They are all creepy doll things.”

Though THESIS constructs were made ostensibly with a more practical purpose, the unique visions of a passionate artist showed through in every creation.

in a rare interview, Clemens once said that he was endlessly fascinated by the female form. Many of his photos were of nude women, but he also had many other creations which emphasized this theme in some other way. He had many drawings in his house of skeletons. His father was a doctor, and practically forced him to study anatomy. Though the extent of his studies are unclear, he seemed to have the human bone structure memorized.

“One time,” said Angelica in an interview, “he asked me to pose nude for a drawing. As always, he was very courteous and professional, saying “if you please” and “would you care to” with each pose. He never touched me in those days. Anyway, I assumed he was doing a traditional nude drawing. But when he was finished — which didn’t take terribly long mind you, maybe twenty minutes — I looked at the paper to see a skeleton. It startled me at first, just the surprise of it I mean, but the more I looked at it, the more I recognized myself in it. The pose I was making, my proportions, etc. He had drawn my bones. I think maybe that’s when I started to really get that there was something truly different about this man. He wasn’t just another artist who wanted to get girls naked in his studio. He was dreadfully preoccupied with his work, his unique perspective. It’s funny thinking on it now. When I was posing for the drawing I was quite careful to keep the left side of my face hidden… I’ve always been shy about it you see. I was worried about him looking too closely at my burned flesh and preserving it in a piece of art. How could I have known he was drawing me without flesh at all?

Did you think it was creepy?

No, not creepy exactly. Strange. impressive. It made me a little uncomfortable for some reason but at the same time, there was something deeply compelling about the drawing. Once you get passed the whole idea that skeletons are spooky, I mean. It was very sweet in a way. I… she trailed off.