PHOTO BY DANIEL L I PPI TT

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THE DETROI T JEWISH NEWS

David Robinson: "Seeing dolls can
come very close to seeing people."

04

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SUZANNE CHESSLER
SPECIAL TO THE JEWISH NEWS

Joan Crawford doll sculpted
out of wax played into a new
artistic opportunity for
David Robertson.
Until four years ago,
Robertson's field had been
graphics. By day, he
worked as a commercial
designer for a steel mill.
After hours, he labored
over two-dimension-
al forms in his home studio.
"My aunt showed me a wax
doll she purchased in England
and explained it was part of a
limited-edition celebrity series,"
said Robertson, 41, who lives in
Indiana.

"I thought it was a great art
form because it brought images
to life through the realism of
three dimensions. Seeing dolls
can come very close to seeing peo-
ple."
Robertson began to create his
own, one-of-a-kind collection, but
instead of using actual men and
women as models, he turned to
people shown in other art forms.
There is a Mona Lisa doll that
lifts the legendary smile off the
canvas. There are sisters tak-
en off a porch in a Renoir ren-
dering. There are ballerinas
stepping away from Degas brush
strokes.

Artist
David Robertson
creates dolls
copied from
Holocaust
photos.

Most dramatically, there are .
people copied from Holocaust
photos found during library
research. The Holocaust series,
"Fragments of Memory: Reflec-
tions of the Holocaust," is on
display this month at the
Riki Schaffer Gallery in Ponti-
ac.
"Schindler's List really moti-
vated me," said Robertson, who
is not Jewish. Recently, he told a
group of survivors gathered to see
his works at the Holocaust
Memorial Center that he "lis-
tened to the soundtrack while I
sculpted, and the music resurged
the emotions."