A CHILDREN’S WONDERLAND
Paul Bailey looks at the mysterious work of Jean Tolkovsky Jean has always been an avid reader and having spent so much time reading to her children, she decided her work should focus on childhood memories and experiences that could be portrayed through the characters inspired by fairytales and nursery rhymes.
Her first step was to visit The Museum of Childhood in Bethnal Green, London, where she studied the way in which toys were constructed – the arms, heads, seams, fabric, ceramic, wood and wheels, etc.
Over time, Jean’s characters reappear but may have altered, and many new ones have emerged, as more of her own story merges with fairytales. New pieces may be inspired by a character, or maybe even a sentence from a novel, with…
