An Interview With Brigitte Coovert
Interviewer: Andy Nukes
AN: Tell us a little bit about what you do.
BC: What don’t I do? I’m so scatter-brained. I’m best known for working with Japanese fashion dolls (Pullip, Dal, Byul, Taeyang, and Blythe), but I also work with urban vinyl, kokeshi, some painting, collage, I make jewelry, and I even write haiku, lol…I also hula hoop unusually well.
AN: How did you develop an interest in doing art? Describe some of your early creative endeavors.
BC: When I was a kid I remember doodling a lot, but instead of the fridge being a reward the drawings my dad deemed “good” would be made into zines. The motivation that comes from print publication is far more than any cold, metal surface could provide, I’ll tell you that much! My first zine, “Monster’s Nature Land,” was published in 1986 when I was five years old, I remember hawking it to the neighbors and managed to sell them all for $0.25 a pop!
AN: Who are some of your influences?
BC: I used to do collage, way back, and so I made an effort not to look at any collage work so that I wouldn’t inadvertently borrow anything. It’s like how every starting musician “invents” part of “Stairway to Heaven,” and then gets really disappointed later on. When you start out, you’re too malleable. I don’t look at many doll artists either and those who I love, the reason I love them is because they’re so different from me. As far as influences that translate into my work go … the biggest one has to be fashion, especially Japanese fashion, there are so many facets and it’s all so amazing. Mythology or folk/fairy tales from any culture are another huge influence, I feel a strong compulsion to revision the characters. Sometimes I’ll see a shape or color scheme in graphic design and a light bulb will go on and, most recently, I was inspired by a Camilla d’Errico’s work which I translated into a doll. She was very supportive, which made me very happy. It’s very rare that an artist will inspire me so much that I’ll need to do a direct reincarnation of a piece, but d’Errico is really exceptional.
AN: Now, let’s talk about your custom dolls. Where did you get your inspiration to do these?
BC: Once upon a time I just mangled generic Barbies that I bought at the grocery store. I’m not being cute or hyperbolic when I say “mangled,” I mean, they were disturbing. After that (by “that” I mean a good 7 years) I customized My Little Ponies just because, I wasn’t bad at it, though I wasn’t good, and it’s where I learned how to paint on toys/3D. Eventually I started collecting Pullips and when I had one I wanted to get rid of that I couldn’t sell the urge to take it apart overwhelmed me.
AN: Zombuki is an awesome name. What does it mean? How did the name come about?
BC: It’s “zombie” and “kabuki” - when I made my first one I was taking photos of it in a ditch outside my house (glamorous). My friend (then-roommate) came over and I asked for his help brainstorming a name “for these things” since he was great with stuff like that. It went something like, “I want it to be something like ‘zombie’ and ‘kabuki’ …” and he said, “How about Zombuki?” it was so absurd it just stuck!
AN: You name each of your dolls. Tell us about this.
BC: The names of the dolls are pretty important to me, usually they’re obscure personal references or references to something about the design. Andalusia, for example, is based on a peacock and she’s named after Andalusia Farms, which is where Flannery O’Connor raised peafowl for most of her life. Hanami is named after a flower viewing festival because her design is inspired by cherry blossoms, and Pon is named after a package of Japanese candy because she’s candy soda-inspired. They all have a little something like that to them, sometimes I explain it, sometimes I let it stay private. There’s a lot in a name, I feel like randomly naming them would be disrespectful somehow.
AN: How do you decide what each doll will look like?
BC: It sounds strange but there’s not a way I can answer that question. The dolls fall into place or they don’t, I don’t feel like I “decide” what they look like at all. Sometimes I’ll see a design element somewhere that that will inspire me, I’ll feel like I “need” to use it, but that compulsion is about as close to “deciding” as I get.
AN: The painting on the doll’s faces is different from anything I’ve seen before. What was your inspiration for this particular approach?
BC: Actually, and I hate admitting to this and I’ve been forced to half a dozen times, the first dolls I made were fan dolls based off of makeup in an ANTM photo shoot from 2006-ish. It introduced me to a makeup style that combined geisha, kabuki, and insane colors that I meshed so well with it inspired 50 more dolls. It’s an embarrassing stepping off point in a lot of ways, but I think a lot of photographers, for example, have an epiphantic moment looking at a scene that make them say, “I have to be a photographer,” and that was my moment when I thought, “I have to work with dolls … again.” It’s been thrown in my face … a lot.
AN: How did you master the technique of doing such delicate and precise painting?
BC: Doing it every day for years. It’s that simple. It’s that complicated. If you do something every day for years and aren’t good at it then my heart aches for you.
AN: How do you select clothing and accessories for your creations?
BC: I am lucky enough to have a muse, Art Plonsjeroze aka Chantal! Her doll clothes (all handmade) are perfection, they go hand-in-hand with my work, if she retired I feel like I would have to as well. Occasionally I find an outfit here or there that I like, or even love,
but she’s the only one whose work has inspired mine. She’s like the silent creatrix! I do, also, try to only buy handmade and to promote those I buy from.
AN: What was the worst critique/review/feedback you were ever given and how did it make you feel?
BC: I’ve had a lot of really exceedingly negative critiques. I think the worst actually came from “an answered prayer” which, as Truman Capote warns, is just about the worst thing you can wish on someone. It had always been my dream to date another artist, I had this huge, romantic vision of being some super amazing, hand-holding art couple,
but when I finally dated another artist - and he was a very good one mind you - it was really demoralizing in a lot of ways. He painted in oil and told me that he felt like my work wasn’t legitimate nor was it worth the money I charged, and he meant it, he was very well connected and never introduced me to anyone even though I was just starting out. Eventually he told me that the only way I was ever going to be a success was if I made my dolls, photographed them like I do, and the painted paintings of those photos - unless I did that I would never be a “real” artist, just someone playing pretend. He really didn’t consider me a peer and I felt it.
I’ve had a lot (and I mean a lot) of copycats and really nasty people saying really nasty things, but no one whose ever been ugly with me, or copied me, has been someone I respected. It’s annoying, it’s demoralizing, but it’s not painful. People are often rude in person, “Those dolls just freak me out,” or “I wouldn’t pay THAT for THAT!” or “My kid could make those!” but I’m just rude back or it’s funny, depending on my mood, I actually enjoy both equally. BTW: your kid isn’t as talented as you think.
AN: How did that experience change or not change the way you feel/felt about your art? What did you do about it?
BC: My “real” bad crit made me work my butt off. I wanted it to be undeniable that I was his peer, that my prices were deserved, that my work - albeit in a bastard medium - was just as legitimate as his damn oil paintings. I did the internet equivalent of “cold calling,” I got into magazines, I networked my behind off, I got a solo show … it motivated me. Of course it destroyed the relationship too, but that’s a duh, some things I don’t think it’s possible not to resent.
It’s funny because people copying my work or being catty online make me want to give up a lot of days, which is really stupid I know, but I think it’s because there’s really a lot of pressure to be “professional” online and present this super plastered on happy
version of yourself, like you’re always at a job interview, you know? Because you never know who knows who, or who is a potential customer, and all that jazz, but really some days you just want to be like, “So and so is a horse’s ass! Ha ha ha!”. But I swear online drama from 3 years back (when I started seriously working) is still there for all to read, the internet has a creepy permanence that disallows bad (read: human) behavior in artists who want to be working professionals.
AN: What would you like to say to the other underdogs out there?
BC: I definitely direct this to those who work in bastard mediums (toys, digital, collage, plush, etc): if you wouldn’t do what you do alone, in your house, with no attention (good or bad), and no one seeing it until you pass away, then don’t do it at all. If you could stop if you wanted to, don’t start. When you work in a non-mainstream medium it has to be a need from inside you to make what you make, you cannot doubt yourself, because everyone else is going to. If it goes somewhere, you win the lottery, and never ever stop being thankful for it.
To see more of Brigitte’s work go to:
http://www.zombuki.com/
http://www.flickr.com/photos/riotsqurrl/
http://www.facebook.com/zombukidolls
http://twitter.com/zombuki
