Joining us for our tiniest RUN to date, we welcome back California artist Ana Bagayan, who gets small with Ana’s Dollhouse! Our first look into Ana’s Dollhouse features 6 new limited edition prints from Ana Bagayan, all pint size and including custom frames! Pint size versions of Children Of The Sun, Not A Bot, Starchild and Undersea Moon are all available individually with custom miniature frames. You can also snag the full set which also includes two bonus prints! In addition, Ana has also created several new miniature paintings that are available, each with a custom frame of it’s own! Read on for a peek inside Ana’s Dollhouse and be sure to snag your favorite from these tiny editions before they’re gone. . .
1xRUN: Tell us a little bit about this series, anything immediate you would like us to highlight about Ana’s Dollhouse for us right off the bat?
Ana Bagayan: #AnasDollhouse is a miniature art gallery-themed set that I created inside of a real doll house. The miniature gallery acts like a real gallery, holding solo shows and selling miniature artwork.
For our first miniature print release with 1xRUN, I chose some of my favorite human-alien hybrid children paintings. Some are of my large-scale work and others are new miniature paintings from the doll house.
1x: Was this image part of a recent theme, series or show that you had?
Bagayan: The theme for this print set and the originals are UFOs and Aliens, a reoccurring theme in my artwork of any scale.
1x: When were these pieces originally drawn and created and what materials were used?
Bagayan: The paintings are acrylic on wood panel and the drawings are graphite on paper, the same materials that I would use to make my larger artwork. I made each frame from little strips of wood because the artwork is so tiny, they needed to be custom-made. Smaller does not mean easier…it’s a delicate process! The originals are all new artwork from this year, made specially for this release. The prints feature paintings from 2012 to present.
1x: Tell us how the idea and execution came about for Ana’s Dollhouse?
Bagayan: Back in January, I started renovating my old dollhouse. Rather than creating a house, I decided to make a miniature gallery to showcase my art collection. The two dolls that lived in the house, Francis and Val, were perfectly dressed for a gallery. They were really excited about their new roles in the dollhouse.
The miniature gallery has since taken life on my instagram account with narratives and made-up artist characters, like Mr. Finger and the ghost of Leonardo duh Vinci, who will have solo shows in the doll house!
My alter ego, the Ana doll, lives in the miniature studio room as part of an artist residency. I also feature the work of other artists and sometimes parody my favorite pop art. The creation of the narratives and original artwork has been an organic and spontaneous process, which is what I love most about working on it.
1x: How long did these original paintings take to create from start to finish?
Bagayan: The amount of time ranges, depending on the needs of the painting. I consider the frames part of the artwork, and sometimes framing takes longer than the painting!
1x: What is unique about these editions compared with your other work?
Bagayan: This will be my first miniature print set with 1xRun in collaboration with #AnasDollhouse!
1x: Why should people buy these prints?
Bagayan: Even though they are miniatures, they are made with the same archival-quality pigments and paper as the large prints. The full set also with special hand-embellished Kinder Planet + Salmundi prints! The miniature artwork can go inside a doll’s house or be tucked into a small nook between big paintings. They are toy paintings that are not for playing!
1x: Describe this series in one gut reaction word.
Bagayan: Dazzling.
Click To Shop Prints + Original Artwork In Ana’s Dollhouse by Ana Bagayan
1x: What have you been up to over the last few months? Bring us up to speed on how things have been going recently for you…
Bagayan: So I’ve been working on 1/12th scale artwork for the miniature gallery, which can be seen on instagram under the #AnasDollhouse hashtag. I’ve also been working on large-scale paintings for a solo show in January at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in Los Angeles.
1x: What are some of the ways you have been trying to push yourself with your work over the last year?
Bagayan: I’ve been wanting to work on larger paintings for several years and I finally have the space to do so this year. It’s a different process because while traveling full-time I get used to sitting down while painting and now I have to stand while I work!
1x: What are some strides you feel you’ve made in your work recently?
Bagayan: The back-and-forth scale change from tiny dollhouse to large canvas has been a good way to refresh my mind with each project. Working on multiple artworks at the same time is forcing me to slow down and let the ideas simmer before finishing it.
1x: What was the last piece of art that you bought?
Bagayan: You’ll have to check out the collection at #AnasDollhouse to find out!
1x: Do you have any big shows or events coming up that you’d like to share?
Bagayan: My next solo show will be in Los Angeles at La Luz de Jesus Gallery in January 2019.
1xRUN: Where else can people find you?
Bagayan: Instagram @AnaBagayan + @AnasDollhouse – Patreon @anabagayan
-1xRUN