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The dollhouse, while sweet and playful, is also a silent teacher of traditional gender roles. In “The Dollhouse Effect,” a mixed media collaboration between Devon Walz and Catherine Rex, we wanted to tell our millennial coming of age story. It’s a place where time collapses, and innocence, desire and memory co-exist.

Crafted around the tension that occurs in the transition between girlhood and adulthood the house exists outside of time, spanning the many phases of this period. Items in each space range from throwbacks to girlhood, to teenage safekeepings and pop culture, and the magic that binds them in this home. 

We chose the butterfly as narrator both for its tie to the feminine and its role in traditional folklore as the soul. Just as girls navigate the expectations of society and their own selfhood, the butterfly can be seen in a variety of states throughout the rooms.

We came together on this piece by way of a shared interest in a complex relationship to the female experience. Catherine’s practice being focused on the push and pull of the ultra feminine, and Devon’s in the grief that accompanies a loss of innocence. 

See Catherine's work at www.rexdesign.co