Siana Kristiani on her way to becoming world class doll maker

Text and photos by Susi Andrini

JAKARTA (JP): Siana Kristiani likes dressing her "children". They are beautiful, sweet and cute and have exotic faces. Regrettably they are dumb because they are porcelain.

Siana has been making dolls for two years. "It all started as a hobby," she said. She had no inkling that her dolls would interest so many people, especially foreigners.

Siana, who has two real daughters, has been in the ceramics business for a long time. She became interested in doll making when she was in the Netherlands buying clay for her ceramics work; there was a doll exhibition there at the time. Knowing that dolls could be made from clay, she wished to learn how to make them. She met Joke Grobeen, an expert doll maker with 20 years experience. He taught Siana privately for a year.

Siana was not confident of following his tuition because she had no background in sculpture or painting. Imagine how difficult it is to shape a face, eye, nose or mouth. Yet, she did it.

Initially she made dolls from ceramics, but a year later, in 1994, she turned to porcelain. Porcelain is much finer than ceramics. This is visible after the dolls have been painted. The eyes of porcelain dolls are more lively, because they are implanted, while in ceramic dolls eyes are painted.

Between January and mid February this year she participated in an exhibition in Nuremberg, Germany. She displayed about 40 dolls. This month, she will hold a doll exhibition in cooperation with her teacher Joke Grobeen at Erasmus Huis in Jakarta.

Many of her dolls have been exported: 35 to Asia, 35 to the United States and 20 to Europe. Her dolls cost between Rp 1 million and Rp 2 million or about 1,500 DM each.

Siana has two local staff: a secretary-cum-office administrator and a bookkeeper. "Making dolls can take away stress," said Siana who is also an architect.

Characteristics

Siana models her dolls on children because she likes their smooth, innocent faces. She also depicts Indonesians. "Because I am Indonesian, my dolls must have the characteristics of Indonesian children among whom one discerns three colors of skin, light brown, dark brown and black," said Siana. To bring out typically Indonesian characteristics she dresses her dolls in regional traditional attire. She puts small beads and accessories on them. She also has combinations of dress. She put a dress made of tenun ikat on a doll which wore a crown like a West Sumatran bride.

All her dolls have black hair cut in different styles. They have long, short, straight, curly or even frizzy hair. To match the dresses their hair is loose, in a bun, braided or in a ponytail. A doll in a regional or bridal dress will have her hair in a bun. A doll in a party dress will wear her hair loose or with a bandeau.

The dolls wear wigs made of human hair. Siana goes to Germany to buy them. They cost about Rp 100,000 each. "I have to buy the wigs in Germany. I once bought one here for Rp 350,000," she said.

Her dolls have dark, wide, round eyes. The eyes are made of glass bought in Germany. They can cost up to Rp 80,000. The glass is empty and is therefore fragile. "The glass should be filled with crystal like marbles. But that would be very expensive," she said while laughing.

Her dolls' noses are flat rather than sharp. Their lips are their most striking feature. This makes the dolls seem alive like they want to speak. Their thick lips also give a sexy, attractive impression. The dolls, which are expressive, stand as tall as a child of one or two years. The dolls are standing or sitting.

Dark-skinned dolls have curly or frizzy hair like the Ambonese. Straight or wavy hair is put on dolls with brown or light-brown skin. "I adjust the hair of a doll to the color of its skin. I have often observed the characteristics of Indonesian children and have seen how regional traits are inherent in them," she said. The dolls have sweet and funny names like Sydney, Tika, Wanda, Colleer, Cynthia or Saliyah.

Saliyah and friends are made of porcelain. This is a clay which molds easily. Siana has to make molds to shape her dolls. The chest upwards, hands and legs are made of porcelain. The body is made of Dacron wrapped in cloth.

A dolls' head is made from a polystyrene ball which is cut four centimeters from the top down for the forehead. Below the forehead, two holes are cut for the eyes. Then the ball is covered in clay. Only then can the nose, cheekbones, chin, upper lip, nostrils, throat and chest be shaped. When this is finished, the doll is put in a kiln (it is also possible to use a cake oven).

The arms and hands, legs, feet, palms and fingers are then modeled and heated in a kiln. Then the head and other body parts have to be scoured. The eyebrows and ears are then engraved. The glass-eyes are put in and the eyebrows stuck on. The head and the arms and legs are then attached to the doll's body already filled with polystyrene. The doll is then dressed. It usually takes between one and two months to finish a doll, but occasionally a week is sufficient.

Doll making

Doll making is hard but uncomplicated work. The important thing is to like doing it, even as a hobby. Special skills and a lot of patience are required to create dolls. Siana Kristiani can only make five to seven types of doll's face in a year. If she is unsatisfied with a face, she can change it before it is heated.

"I never feel lonely while making dolls," said Siana. She also runs a doll-making course at her home in Patal Senayan, Central Jakarta. This skillful, friendly woman seems unfazed by stress. More Sianas are needed, because many dolls are imported and traded in Indonesia.

Marketing dolls domestically is not easy, but Siana has several overseas agents: three in the Netherlands (The Hague, Tilburg and Apeldoorn) and one in Germany (Nuremberg).

There are few lovers of the high-priced dolls in Indonesia. But porcelain dolls are an investment in European cities like Rotterdam and Nuremberg.

Exhibition sales seldom cover the cost of exhibiting, but the Siana Kristiani name is becoming well known among doll collectors in Europe. Siana says she is still a beginner compared to her teacher Joke Grobeen who can engrave minute facial details, with folded eyelids and wrinkles under the eyes. She is always trying and learning new techniques.

"Maybe some day my dolls will be known everywhere and I will contribute my skills by teaching," she concluded.